Night Lost, Lynn Viehl

I read this a few weeks ago. Lynn Viehl's Darkyn books are always my reliable, go-to vampire novels. Fast paced & yummy with a side order of edginess. At least they are for me anyway. :) Excellent world building with an overarching plot that continues in each novel. It isn't necessary to read the series in order, though. I like some emo angst driven vampires, but once in awhile I want grown up adults who can handle their business. Ms. Viehl's Darkyns are that. Night Lost is the fourth book in the Darkyn series. Correct series order is listed HERE. The first book in the Darkyns is If Angels Burn, the fifth book is Evermore.

Nicola Jefferson is a tormented young woman, now an art thief, religious art being her specialty. In the course of looking for a particular relic that has personal meaning for her, she has freed several Darkyn. Thus making her an enemy of the Brethren of the Light, the Roman Catholic order sworn to eradicate the Darkyn. Nicola also has a particularly strong dream life, often seeing and talking with someone she calls 'the green man'. In rural France she enters a derelict church and finds Gabriel Seran imprisoned there.

Gabriel is a captured Kyn who has been abandoned by his fellow Kyn. For those readers who like to know, Gabriel's l'attrait (each Kyn has a unique scent called l'attrait) is evergreen. I love that unique Darkyn trait, somehow it makes them..I don't know..more accessible? I'm a gardener and scent gardens are a particular favorite of mine, so maybe I'm different. I don't know. Anyhow, somehow he has managed to hold on to his honor despite being locked in a church cellar and tortured by the Brethren. Gabriel too has dreams of an ethereal young woman, a woman who may be able to free him, if only she can find him.

Meantime the overarching plot continues apace. Alexandra Keller, the physician heroine from the first book, has been kidnapped and locked up in Richard Tremayne's (the Kyn leader) castle in Ireland. Alex's estranged brother John is imprisoned there as well. Michael Cyprian, Alex's lover, several of his men as well as Brethren, Gabriel and Nicola all converge in Ireland. Makes for some serious fireworks.

This book has a more sinister tone to it than the last one. I enjoyed that. Vampires should be edgy, should make you feel unsettled a little. This novel delivers that and heat. A fabulous combination! Winner. Also, probably a keeper.


Image found on Fantastic Fiction.

The Immortal Hunter; Lynsay Sands

This is book eleven in the Argeneau family series as well as a book in Ms. Sands' Rogue Hunters series. Click title above to go to Ms. Sands' page for this book. This is a contemporary set paranormal suspense. TBH, I've not read one of Ms. Sands'books in quite some time. The last title of hers I read is Tall Dark & Hungry (book four), review here. I did not purchase this one myself, it was a gift from my Hubby who knows that I like vamps. I do like vamps but generally I've not really connected deeply with Ms.Sands' characters & thus she fell by the wayside. Ms. Sands other new title so far this year is titled Devil of the Highlands & she has book twelve in the Argeneau/Rogue Hunter series coming out in September of this year.

This book made me wonder if the 'Cynster disease' has struck with Ms. Sands. For those of you unfamiliar with this, Stephanie Laurens started an historical book series with a large family named the Cynsters. Subsequently she's moved out to cousins & family friends etc. all tied in with the original Cynsters in some vague and nebulous way. Now, I'm all for an author following a tried and true reader loved path: connected series. Authors are in the market to make money & sell books after all. I simply wasn't aware that Ms. Sands had done so.

This book follows a familiar path: innocent victim(s) is/are terrorized by a group of baddies, victim rescued by a mysterious pair of men who claim to be good guys intent on helping her, but can she really trust them? The victim in this case is Dr. Danielle McGill, who along with her sister was kidnapped out of a parking lot. The supposed good guy is Decker Argeneau, a kind of vampire cop who chases down killer vampires. In Ms. Sands' world vampires don't need to feed off of live humans because hello?? blood banks. I really appreciate that Ms. Sands' vampires are forward looking & unafraid of technology.

Much of Ms.Sands' world I appreciate: the blood banks, the un-self-conscious way the vamps feed, the fact that the love interest cannot be forced to choose immortality, the strong sense of duty and responsibility to the community. There were elements in this story I didn't like: the totally unrealistic hot & heavy petting in the back of the van while another vamp drove up front at breakneck speed chasing the baddies; sex in the changing room at the mall; how willing Decker Argeneau was to lie to Danielle while justifying what he said both to her and to his boss (also his cousin) when questioned.

A mixed bag for me, but I think there's alot to recommend Ms. Sands' work for other romance lovers.

Image found on Fantastic Fiction

Dark Need; Lynn Viehl

Dark Need is book three in author Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series. The first book is If Angels Burn, the newest title, released in January of this year, is Stay the Night. Click link in title above to see info page at Fantastic Fiction. Cover image also found there. The series is contemporary alternate reality paranormal (vampires) primarily set in the United States. Ms. Viehl also writes science fiction under the name S.L. Viehl, among other genres. In my opinion it isn’t necessary to read these in order & a reader won’t miss too much by picking up the series in the middle. Similar to a mystery or SFF series, there is an overarching plot that continues through all of the books, however Ms. Viehl is skilled in bringing a new reader, or in my case a lapsed reader, up to speed without doing an ‘info dump’.

Ft. Lauderdale homicide detective Samantha Brown and her soon to retire partner Harry Quinn are tasked to solve a case in which the murder victim was drowned in fresh water and then placed on a park bench within several hundred yards of the ocean. Interestingly enough, she’s also across the street from a goth nightclub called Infusion. Samantha is tall and statuesque and lives alone in a security conscious gated complex. She’s one of those people who allows their profession to be all consuming & her only emotional attachment is to her partner and his wife.

Lucan, who was called Noir de l’Anfar centuries ago, is the Darkyn managing the club and the new gardin in Ft. Lauderdale. Once he was the Darkyn high lord’s pet assassin and enforcer, but has left Europe and Ireland for America and, perhaps one day, peace of mind if not actual peace. Someone is framing him, but whom? And for what purpose? One of his enemies? Or one of the high lord’s enemies? Could it be the Brethren of the Light, that supersecret order within the Roman Catholic church who were all sworn to unquestioning obedience and the eradication of the Darkyn?

Ms. Viehl keeps the pacing high and the plots whirl in my head like the circus professional who spins several plates at once, never dropping one. Lucan and Sam, Michael and Alex (the couple from the first book) are central to the action. John Keller (Alex’s renegade brother & former member of the Brethren) sidles into town as well. The high lord himself shows up & then things really start to happen. As if it was quiet & plodding before. *snort*

Lucan’s secondary gift is unique and unusual & made me smile. I understood his motives when he attempts to push Samantha away, although the use of forced sex made me very uncomfortable and unhappy. The typical Romanceland shortcut of having the heroine end up a) understanding what he was actually trying to do and b) sexually respond in a positive way to his aggression didn’t do much to ease my discomfort. There is only one instance of this in the book. Lucan believes he will not survive the coming confrontation & is attempting to protect Samantha’s life. Each reader will have to make up their own mind about how this is treated. Speaking for myself, I was ok with it although I wish Ms. Viehl had come up with a different way to achieve the same goal.

Obviously, in real life I don’t condone or accept that there is any instance of this type of sexual coercion & violence being acceptable in any way at all. In fiction, though, I can generally give it a pass depending on how the author frames the episode and what the ramifications are.

An excellent installment in the Darkyn series. Spurred me to run to the UBS and buy the next book. I absolutely had to know how a certain plot point that carried over was resolved. I rushed over to my shelves & discovered that the fourth title is the only one I didn’t have. The next one is fabulous as well.

Thursday 13 #40~ Kiss of Midnight; Lara Adrian

Thursday thirteen is intended to allow bloggers all over the world to get to know one another better. Click link in title above to see a list of other participants. Leave a link in the comments below and I'll link back to you here.


1. Written by Lara Adrian and published by Bantam Dell in May 2007, Kiss of Midnight is the first book in a new series of paranormal romances set in a vampire world created by the author.

2. The backstory is unique, to say the least. Vampires, it seems, originated when a small group of aliens crashed on earth millennia ago. They could not eat the foods found here and took to drinking human blood for sustenance. At first they wiped out large groups of humans (like the Maya and the mound building Indians of the central US) before they figured out a way to survive without eliminating the food source. Crudely put, but pretty accurate.

3. In the modern era, the vampires have evolved into three distinct groups. One- colonies of vampires who live routine lives and try to blend into whatever human society is close by. Two- Rogue vampires who break both human and vampire laws by killing those they feed from and making zombie minions out of humans. Three- warrior vampires, calling themselves the Order, whose chosen role is to protect civilian vampires and humans from the Rogues.

4. This series revolves around members of the Order living in metropolitan Boston Massachusetts.

5. Gabrielle Thorne is a freelance photographer who lives a relatively quiet and orderly life with a few close friends. Things get exciting one night when she sees a gangland style execution in an alley behind a club built in a former church sold to pay for legal expenses (shades of 'real' life, anyone?).

6. Lucan Thorne is the leader of this group of the Order. He is a Gen One vampire, meaning he’s a first generation offspring of one of the original alien vampires. Vampires are exclusively male (another genetic anomaly) and have beautiful tattoo like markings all over their bodies which change colors depending on his mood.

7. Gabrielle comes to Lucan’s attention at the club. Eventually he decides he can’t protect her at her apartment and he brings her to the Order’s compound for her own protection. Things escalate from there.

8. Someone has declared war on the Order, but who is it? Because whoever it is, they seem to have declared war against the Order and they are willing to use humans and civilian vampires as fodder.

9. In the meantime, one of Lucan’s fellow warriors gets killed when he takes a mission in Lucan’s place. Lucan being at Gabrielle’s at the time. It turns out his mate is three months pregnant and they had planned to retire when the child was born. So Lucan has that to cope with.

10. Gabrielle has emotional issues from her past to cope with and, like many childhood traumas they affect her present too. The fact that Lucan witnessed part of what happened complicates matters.

11. Ms. Adrian has really caught my eye and my greedy reader’s heart with this series partly because the characters are depicted as flawed and needy and bringing baggage to a relationship, yet Ms. Adrian doesn’t allow these problems to overwhelm either the character or the storyline. Essential and necessary but not developed to the point of putting off the reader.

12. The idea of dermaglyphs all over the guy’s bodies fascinates me. Ones that change color even. Mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm. ;)

13. Props to Ms. Adrian for developing a unique vampire world populated by well rounded characters whose relationships remain at the forefront while simultaneously sketching out an ongoing plot that could keep the series going for quite a while.

Image found at fantasticfiction

Even Vampires Get the Blues; K. MacAlister

Written by Katie MacAlister and published by Signet Eclipse in 2006, this is a title I looked forward to reading for a long time. The previous book in the series is Sex Lies and Vampires which I read and posted my thoughts about HERE. Anime Queen loves Katie Maxwell (MacAlister's young adult alter ego) and her sense of humor and fun, but I confess I struggle with love and laughter paranormals. I mostly go for the dark and intense paranormals, so take my thoughts here with a grain of salt if you really enjoy the love and laughter romance subgenre.

Samantha Cosse is a human elf 'halfbreed' who lives in Scotland. One of her talents is finding lost objects. Moravian Dark One (has no soul) vampire Pean Scott (tribute to Sir Walter, maybe??) needs to find a lost staute in the next five days or else his mother forfeits her soul. Paen hires Samantha's new sleuthing firm to help him. From there EVGTB turns into a race against time. Can Samantha help him in time? Will Pean be able to keep her safe from those who threaten her and her cousin?

Trouble is there isn't much relationship development going on. Everything revolves around finding the statue and associated issues. Paen is supposed to be a scholar and yet he doesn't question what he was told about the statue or the truth behind the claims he must find it at all costs. To my mind scholars are inquisitive and curious- but we don't see him dig very deeply into the validity of why he must find this object.

Second issue for me was the lack of relationship development between Samantha and Paen. Many things happen to them, but I don't see much between them. Superficially most of their interaction comes between the sheets, but I really missed the emotional asapect of relationship building that, for me, is central to romances regardless of subgenre.

Thirdly, and this is tied in with number two, after a while so much happened to Samamntha that I gave up reading and skimmed. There were just one too many plot twists and I couldn't take it anymore. I'd had enough. I skimmed through the rest. Up to a certain point plot twists are good, but it's necessary for me to feel that each is important for character or relationship development- anything beyond that and I get bored or impatient or both.

Fourth- Paen's name is annoyingly similar to the word peaen which is a song or hyymn of joy and praise. It's like a pebble in your shoe or a run at the toe of your hosiery- irritating enough that you're constantly picking at your foot and not paying attention to the task at hand, ie: reading this romance.

So there you have it- a love and laughter vampire romance that didn't quite work for me. I've enjoyed Ms. MacAlister's writing before and I plan to look over her upcoming works. This might have worked better if it had been categorized in another genre.

September Synopsis

In my post about reading goals, titled Downward Mobility for anyone interested in such things, I mentioned my hope to finish 100 books this year. After totting up it turns out I've read 61 (including September's books). I've not made much progress toward that goal, but I've not given up yet. Below are links to the two books I posted my opinion on:

Dark Possession, Christine Feehan

Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Below are three others I didn't have time to write out an opinion on.

Shall We Dance? by Judith Lansdowne~ A traditional Regency wherein the reader comes in on a relationship after the courtship is over, but the hero has unfinished family business which stands in the way of the HEA. Comes after Ms. Lansdowne's Quiggley book. Both hero and heroine are in their mid to late 30 's. I'm a fan of Ms. Lansdowne's & this book is very good.

A Season of Virtues by Judith Lansdowne~ Another traditional Regency featuring a young Earl as a sleuth whose sidekick is a school chum, toss in a loving but meddling mother, a circus equstrienne, and a family whose last name is Virtue and you have a light, enjoyable couple of hours read. Oh yes- also stars a swearing parrot.

Folk Medicine by D.C. Jarvis~ Urged on me by my loving husband, who is very interested in natural health, holistic medicine and organic foods, herbs and supplements. D.C. Jarvis was a family practioner (M.D.) in rural Vermont. This was originally published in 1958 & precedes other more recently published books addressing the same or similar issues. Appears to be well researched. Discusses the effects of bad eating habits and how many ailments can be relieved by common pantry items. Interesting, but most likely mainly to persons interested in this subject area or those who are interested in life in rural New England prior to the mid 1950's.

Edited to Add~ Total of 6 DNFs so far this year.
Only 39 more to go! LOL 0_0

Thursday 13 #25- Books in my TBR

The newest 13 books in my TBR, all are an early Valentine's Day gift from Hubby. He took me to my favorite UBS & let me splurge a little. Twelve books have some type of paranormal element. Listed in random order.

Click title above to see a list of others who participate. Leave a link here & I'll link back to you. The purpose of Thursday 13 is to get to know other bloggers around the world a little bit better.

1. Storm Prince- Terri Lynn Wilhelm; historical, mythical creature

2. Virtual Desire- Ann Lawrence; contemporary alternate reality

3. Stolen Magic- M.J. Putney; historical, Wicca type practices

4. Magic at Midnight- Sandra Heath; Trad. Regency, mythical creature

5. The Haunting of Henrietta- Sandra Heath; Trad. Regency; ghosts

6. Snow in Summer- Tess Farraday; contemporary, ghosts

7. The Ruby Ghost- June Calvin; Trad. Regency, ghosts

8. Shadows of Camelot- Quinn Taylor Evans; medieval, alternate reality

9. Daughter of Camelot- Quinn Taylor Evans; medieval, alternate reality

10. Private Demon- Lynne Viehl; contemporary alternate reality-vampire

11. Spell of the Highlander- Karen Marie Moning; contemporary alternate reality

12. Another Chance to Dream- Lynn Kurland; medieval

13. The Midnight Work- Kassandra Sims; Contemporary alternate reality- vampire

If Angels Burn; Lynn Viehl

Written by Lynn Viehl and published by Signet in 2005, If Angels Burn seems to me more urban fantasy with strong romantic elements as opposed to paranormal romance. Whichever label you hang on it, whatever subgenre you care to place in in, I really love it.

Scotchopping across the eastern US, IAB pairs an emotionally wounded & prickly plastic surgeon heroine with a 700 year old Darkyn Suzerain (a leader of a group of Darkyn) in New Orleans. Alexandra Keller must literally remake Michael Cyprien in to the man he once was. Michael resorts to kidnapping her to force her into operating on him.

Never once does Ms. Viehl, whose blog can be found here, insult the readers intelligence by waving her magic wand and erasing Alex's intelligence or suddenly making Alex succumb to the magic of Michael's l'attrait (the scent that marks all Darkyn, unique to each individual) or, worse, wiping her personality blank as soon as they have sex.

Michael isn't used to human women except as er.. mobile blood banks or as easy to control sexual partners. When Alex enters his life permanently, Michael seems as much confused by this new & different relationship as Alex wonders what in the hell is happening to her. Luckily, Philippe, a member of Michael's jardin in New Orleans convinces Michael to give Alexandra some space & time & eventually Michael & Alex come to an understanding.

Now, by preference I'm leaving alot of things out. Alex's brother is a weirded out Roman Catholic priest who has some serious sexual & psychiatric perversions. The Catholic Church, like many old bureaucratic institutions, is full of odd perversions & hides many old & venal sins. I was a little uncomfortable with this, but the Church as enemy works under Ms. Viehl's pen. I wish more attention had been paid to Alex and Michael's relationship, specifically, I wish he'd courted her more. This is marked as paranormal romance so I expected it to be heavier on the romance side than it was. One other quibble, the scene at the small church near the end wraps up a few too many loose ends in a neat bow- a few loose ends would have added to the sense of foreboding.

Overall If Angels Burn is tightly plotted, with a modern heroine I feel is realistically drawn, a Darkyn any red blooded woman would like to meet in a New Orleans cemetary and an evil menace worthy of late night shivers.

Romance 2006 Stats

Romance Statistics:

Contemporary Romantic Suspense- 1
Fantasy romances- 4
Historical Romances (Incl. long format Regencies)- 14
Mythology based romances- 1
Love & Laughter/Paranormal- 1
Paranormal Romances- 18
Science fiction Romance-3
Traditional Regencies- 28

DNF- 7 novels & 1 short story:
1.Lady Scandal- Shannon Donnelly
2.Fire Song- Catherine Coulter
3.Warrior's Song- Catherine Coulter
4.The Dark Lord- Patricia Simpson
5.A Patriot's Heart- Stobie Piel
6.Rebellious Desire- Julie Garwood
7. Glynnis Campbell's short story in Knight's Vow.

Best New to Me Romance Author Alicia Fields

Best paranormal- Dark Demon by Christine Feehan

Best long historical- Duchess in Love by Eloisa James

Best Traditional Regency-
1.A Bird in Hand by Alison Lane
2.One Good Turn by Carla Kelly

Best Tearjerker- None this year

Best Adventure/Road- Road to the Isle by Megan Davidson

Favorite hero-
a) Tortured hero-
1. Valerius, Seize the Night by Sherilyn Kenyon
2.Rath Roiben, Tithe by Holly Black

Favorite heroine-
1.Liria, One Good Turn by Carla Kelly
2.Fleur Avondale, The Mystery Kiss by Judith Lansdowne.

Favorite couple-
1. Grey MacKeage & Grace Sutton, Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman
2. Adrian Tomas & Nell Harris, Sex, Lies & Vampires by Katie MacAlister
3. Vikirnoff von Schreider & Natalya Shonsky, Dark Demon by Christine Feehan

Honorable Mentions

Touched by Time by Leane Shawler for a unique combo of two of my favorite genres- traditional regency and paranormal.

Valentine's Change of Heart by E. Fairchild for one of the more true to life depictions of alcoholism's effects on family.

Dark Demon by Christine Feehan, for me, was everything I'd hoped the Dark series could become- strong, positive characterization, advancement of the overarcing subplot. The Dark series very nearly got dropped off of my TBB lists & Dark Demon renewed my hope that maybe Ms. Feehan has turned a corner.

What books coming out in 2007 am I most looking forward to? Last of the Red Hot Vampires by Katie MacAlister in March, Dark Possession by Christine Feehan, Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James in June and Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas in March.

Dark Side of the Moon; S. Kenyon

Color me surprised. Yesterday, desperate to find something to read that would catch and hold my attention, I picked up Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon (who also publishes under Kinley MacGregor). Click link above for this book's page on SK's site. I just finished it. It has been ages and ages (over a month) since I finished a romance.

I think part of the reason this novel worked for me is the fact that this series is action packed and fast moving and less focused on being angst and emotion laden. At this point it seems like I need to look for more books that are action/adventure oriented than my more usual fare.

Set in present day Seattle, weekly gossip paper reporter Susan Michaels helps out her best GF Angie by adopting a hissing and growling stray tom cat. Things go rapidly downhill from there. Susan is accused of murdering Angie, among other exciting events. Meantime, Ravyn Kontis allowed his um.. needs to overcome his common sense and he got stuck outside at daybreak in his feline form. Susan adopts him and the adventure begins.

Kenyon sets these characters up with similar emotional needs, easing the time crunch problem neatly. In other words, because Susan and Ravyn have similar emotional needs and abandonment/loss issues they are able to bond with each other faster than other couples might. At least- that was my take on it. Too, the Fates decree who is the right mate/partner for whom thus forcing their decison when the couple might prefer to put it off for a while.

The reader also gets glimpses of Acheron's tortured relationship with Artemis. Let's face it, there are quite a few readers out there who keep up with this series simply to get glimpses of Acheron. Talk about tortured and emotionally scarred. Poor guy. The newest Dark Hunter is Nick Gautier, originally from New Orleans. Nick was out of time and place for two years and doesn't know about Katrina. He is also full of rage at Acheron and makes some truly stupid decions- thus neatly setting him up for a book later.

Anyhow, I liked it. Not a keeper, but then, so few are these days. At least I finished it.