Book 23 of 2009: Wolf Tales I by Kate Douglas

Wolf Tales is Kate Douglas' introductory book into the world of the "Chanku", a group of people who have the ability to shapeshift between human and wolf. In the beginning of this first book, Alexandria, better known as Xandi, drives off the road in a bad snowstorm. Near death from freezing, she falls unconscious in the snow. She awakens in a warm bed, wrapped in the arms of a naked man who makes love to her throughout the night. Come morning, she finds herself once again alone on the side of the road. Unable to abandon her, her rescuer returns and takes her back to his home. She later finds that this man, Stefan, has been cursed by a powerful wizard, Anton, and therefore has become part man, part beast. She decides to go home with him and then together they decide to seek out Anton in order to have him undo his curse on Stefan. Little do they know that it isn't truly a curse, but rather something that is truly a part of Stefan that hasn't been fully brought out yet. And what about Xandi? Was Stefan's meeting of her by accident or could they have been meant to meet?


Kate Douglas does a wonderful job introducing readers to the Chanku world and establishing the backgrounds of several key characters in this book. The book is divided into parts. The first several books focus one at a time on each of the main characters in the book, and the last is kind of a conclusion where it brings all four people together as one, in a sense. The book is highly erotic and explores many variations of erotica such as lesbian, gay, group sex, etc... So readers looking for a "vanilla" book should probably look elsewhere, but anyone that is up for a bit of spice should definitely give this book a try because Douglas takes things above and beyond. In addition to the erotica aspect, there is also a mystery involved when a tabloid reporter is trying to track down one of the wolves. I highly encourage fans of erotica and paranormal to give this book a read because Douglas does a great job blending the storyline and erotica together.


Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Book 22 of 2009: Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson

MaryJanice Davidson's 8th installment of the Undead series (also known as the Betsy the Vampire series) is written from two different perspectives throughout the book. Half of the book is written directly from Betsy's point of view and the other half is written from the view of Dr. Mark Spangler, who is one of Betsy's roommates. Betsy, her boyfriend Sinclair, their adopted son BabyJon, and her best friend Jessica fly off to Cape Cod at the start of the book to visit the Wyndham Werewolves. They are on a mission to return the deceased body of their fellow werewolf, Antonia, to them. The Wyndham Werewolves are more accusing than welcoming, as they can't comprehend how one of their own could have died protecting a vampire! Adding to the stress between the werewolves and the vampires is BabyJon. The werewolves seem to be uneasy around him, but Betsy can't fathom why they would be uncomfortable around a baby. It seems there might be a bit more to BabyJon than meets the eye.

While Betsy is away, sister Laura, the Antichrist, has a bit of her own "party" going on. She has sent their friend Tina away, brought in a group of Satan Worshipers, and has even started killing vampires. Mark is doing everything he can to get in touch with Betsy, but unfortunately every time he sends her an e-mail he types it in text messaging shorthand and Betsy can't seem to translate it. Sinclair tries to call Tina to check in after not having heard from Tina in a few days and finds out that their phone service had been cancelled. It looks like the only way to find out what is going on is to head home, but they can't do that until they resolve the whole "war" with the werewolves on how it is Antonia died. Just your average Betsy week, right?

Once again, MaryJanice Davidson has written a light, fun read that the reader will fly right through and that leaves you wanting more. The quirky dialogue is always what I most look forward to in a Davidson book and this one is no different. In this particular book, I think some of the funniest lines were in the emails sent from Mark to Betsy where he was using the text messaging shorthand. Betsy was having a lot of trouble figuring them out, but it was fun sorting them out. I mean, come on... who wouldn't know that "TSIATHTF" stands for "The Shit Is About To Hit The Fan"? I am definitely ready to see what happens next with BabyJon and Laura so would like to have had a longer book in that sense, but it'll be well worth the wait for number nine! MaryJanice Davidson's books are always a joy to read and are usually a one or two sitting read. I just can't put them down! Highly Recommended!

Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Book 21 of 2009: Kutter by Jeff Strand

Not much I can say here since this one isn't even available for pre-order yet, but wanted to post it in my book count for the year. Special thanks for Jeff in allowing me to have a sneak peek at this one in advance. I'll be sure to post up a review just as soon as it's available for order to help spread the word! I will say this for Kutter... it's a very fun read, though I expect nothing less of Jeff.

Book 20 of 2009: Feminine Wiles by John Grover

Feminine Wiles is a collection of sixteen short stories by John Grover. Instead of stereotypical male protagonists, Grover casts a woman as the villain of each story. The various villains range from witches and crones to dolls and even Medusa herself, so the reader gets a bit of variety. Highlights of the book were "Eden Revisited", a story about the Garden of Eden with a bit of a spin, "Blood IS Thicker Than Water", where a woman believes that blood is the latest in skin care products, and "The Bride Wore Red", where the wedding doesn't end up going quite as the groom expects. I was a bit disappointed at the end of several stories, which ended up going a different direction than expected. A few of the stories also felt clichéd. Also troublesome is the editing of the book. I struggled throughout with numerous grammatical errors that could have easily been corrected. It's a great concept for a collection, however, and a little editing would make it a much more enjoyable read. Grover shows promise, and I'd be willing to try reading something else by him down the road.

(Review also posted on MonsterLibrarian.Com)

Book 19 of 2009: Succulent Prey by Wrath James White

Succulent Prey is the story of Joseph Miles, who was victimized by a child murderer at a young age. He was the only survivor, but feels that he was given a disease by his tormentor that has caused him to have cannibalistic urges that are over time getting increasingly worse. Miles goes on a journey throughout this book in search of a cure for this disease in order to absolve himself of being a killer. Along the way he falls in love with a girl, and the tension increases as he searches for the cure in hopes that he will be able to cure himself before he is incapable of resisting the urge to kill her.

This is a powerful and intense book! White has done an amazing job with depicting scenes graphically to where the reader can visualize exactly what is going on. To some, this might be too much, as it is heavy on the gore scale, but for the heavy-hitter horror fans, this is a must read! The character of Joseph Miles is one of the strongest characters I've encountered in my reading in a long time. I found myself cheering for him throughout the book in hopes that he would find the cure for the disease. Granted, there were also times where I found myself hating Miles and wanting to chuck the book across the room. When an author can make me feel for the character that strongly, that's when I know I'm reading a great book and I know I will read more by the author. Highly Recommended.

Contains: Cannibalism, Gore, Sex, Violence, Profanity

(Review also posted on MonsterLibrarian.Com)

Book 18 of 2009: Soultaker by Bryan Smith

Jake McAllister’s mother is worried because his younger brother, Trey, has been acting weird since he started hanging out with his new girlfriend, Myra. Although Jake can't believe that one girl could really make that drastic of a difference in Trey, he returns home to check things out anyway. What Jake doesn't realize upon his arrival is that most of the females in town consider Myra a leader, and that they are starting to overpower the men in town. Jake meets up with a love interest, Kristen, and together they try to save Trey from Myra's clutches, and stop the harvesting of souls that they have discovered is Myra's ultimate goal.

Soultaker has many strong points. Character development is particularly strong. There are several key characters in this book and Smith detailed each of them and their growth throughout the book beautifully. I truly felt that I got to know the characters as the story progressed. A lot of authors tend to focus on one or maybe two characters, but Smith continued a detailed progression of change of at least six people. Fair warning to those who don't like sex, this novel is a bit heavy on sexual content, but Smith writes it well and for this story it's fitting. Highly Recommended.

Contains: Sex, Violence, Profanity

(Review also posted on MonsterLibrarian.Com)

Book 17 of 2009: Sacrifice by John Everson

Sacrifice is the sequel to Covenant, but unlike Covenant, it starts off at a VERY fast pace and takes you on a roller coaster ride. In this book, Joe Kieran is chasing down a sexy serial killer, Ariana, who is attempting to bring a race of demons known as the Cuburide into this world. Ariana is in the middle of a series of ritualistic sacrifices, and Joe must stop her before she can complete them. Joe teams up with Alex, a hitchhiker who talks to ghosts, and together they must stop Ariana before the final sacrifice is completed and the world is taken over by the Cuburide, who would love nothing more than to be free to spread their perversions across the world. Although Sacrifice is a sequel, it can be read as a stand alone book, as it has everything you need to know from Covenant within it. However, I highly recommend reading Covenant first!

I usually don’t find sequels in a series to be as enjoyable as the original, but let me just say... this is my all-time favorite book! Everson packs a major punch here. Sacrifice is definitely not for the faint of heart. It is extremely gory in parts and has a few other touchy subjects spread throughout. However, readers who can deal with the gore and so on will find that it is well worth it to set aside an afternoon to read Sacrifice… and then the next afternoon to read it again! A few characters from Covenant have carried over, but there are several new characters and they are amazing! I really felt a connection with them while reading. I'm not sure what else Everson has in store for the future, but I hope he comes out with another book in this series. Highly recommended.

Contains: Violence, Sexual Situation, Gore, Rape, Incest, Adult Language

(Review also posted on MonsterLibrarian.Com)