Romance Dead on Delivery (A Messenger Novel) By Eileen Rendahl Berkley, $15.00, 309 pages Dead on Delivery is Eileen Rendahl’s second Messenger novel, and it is even better than the first. In the aftermath of a botched delivery and the loss of a close friend, Melina juggles new responsibilities in her personal and professional lives now that she has inherited a dojo and has acquired a very human boyfriend, police Officer Ted Goodnight. Having died briefly as a child, Melina can see the supernatural world, and she works as a Messenger for the beasties and vampires of the Sacramento region. Her already complicated life grows even more so when two recipients of packages Melina personally delivered end up dead. This time, Melina is put up against darker forces than usual, and Rendahl’s plotting is tight and nail-biting, each chapter ratcheting up the suspense. Holding the story and paranormal mythos together is Melina, who is beginning to pull away from the standard urban fantasy heroine mold and turn into a compelling and unique character. Melina’s friends, boyfriend, and family, are equally interesting, and it’s a breath of fresh air to find a heroine in this genre with a female best friend and a romantic relationship that does not bring out a host of cliched insecurities. Once again, the Sacramento setting is fun to read since the River City is so neglected in fiction, and Rendahl obviously knows the area. Dead on Delivery can be read on its own, but once you finish this, you will be anxious to read book one in the series. Reviewed by Angela Tate The Blue Viking By Sandra Hill Avon, $7.99, 341 pages After a wild night of love-making, Scottish witch Marie left her mark on Rurik the Viking with a blue zigzag across his face. This simply does not abide well with the fierce Viking. He vows to bring Marie to heel or die trying in a quest to remove the curse. This will free him from her and allow him to marry his betrothed. Rurik rescues Marie from a MacNab prison after searching for her for several years. He promises to help her save her land from MacNab claim, but even then the witch doesn’t believe she’ll be able to undo her curse. Turns out, she’s a pretty bad witch who frequently
mixes up her chants with comical results. As Rurik spends time with her, his blue streak becomes less important to him. Can the mighty Viking resist falling for the witch — again — and return to his betrothed unscathed? Or, is her magic more powerful than either of them suspected? The Blue Viking is exceptionally steamy, so this is certainly not a book for underage romance fans. The characters are enjoyable and the storyline is laugh-out-loud humorous, fast-paced, and packed with sizzling chemistry and adventure. This is one of my favorite Sandra Hill books, and one I’ll definitely read again. I can’t wait to see what happens next! Reviewed by Jennifer Melville Nightshade By Michelle Rowen Berkley, $7.99, 352 pages Nightshade has those typical elements usually founded in vampire urban fantasy, but with some nice twists. There are excellent fight scenes, underlying tension and twists you won’t see coming. Jill Conrad is working a boring temp job. On her way back from her coffee break, she finds herself caught between a man in a white lab coat who works for a pharmaceutical company in her building and a tall, scary gunman with a black patch over his left eye. Jill is soon injected with a serum that’s meant to kill vampires. She’s then kidnapped by Declan Reyes, half-vampire, halfhuman. The poison in her system is called Nightshade and she’s now the most deadliest weapon available for the fight against the vampires. Declan’s adopted father wants Jill to infiltrate the king of the vampires, Matthias, where she’ll seduce him into drinking her blood, which will kill him. Nightshade has a few shades of gray with incredible violence and a forced sex scene with Jill and Matthias that may rub the reader the wrong way. Otherwise, Nightshade is s a well written, explosive thriller that any paranormal fan will want to read. Reviewed by Kate Garrabrant The Countess By Lynsay Sands Avon, $7.99, 371 pages The Countess by Lynsay Sands features Christiana stuck in a bad marriage to the Earl of Radnor. When she and her sisters find her husband dead in his office she assumes her troubles are over. That is, until the sisters decide they need to hide the body for a couple days and, even more disconcerting, the husband appears later that night at a ball they are attending. If this seems a touch
improbable, don’t be alarmed, it’s not actually her husband; rather, it’s her husband’s identical twin brother come back to recover his identity. Unfortunately, this unlikely scenario is the highlight of the book. There is nothing particularly wrong with the protagonists, but there isn’t anything particularly right either. In the midst of what could be a fun and quirky story, they are bland and without any real chemistry. This is exacerbated by the writing style which is prone to over-explanation and repetition. The plot and character development, such as they are, are probably better suited to a short story. This is certainly not a title for general readers. Even romance fans will most likely want to give it a pass. Reviewed by Rachel Wallace A Discovery of Witches: A Novel By Deborah Harkness Viking, $28.95, 579 pages After stumbling across a bewitched alchemical text, Diana finds herself caught in a struggle among vampires, witches, and demons who all want to possess this text. After denying her witch heritage for so long, Diana has to face her powers in order to protect herself. She turns to an unlikely ally in vampire Matthew Clairmont. The world building in this book is extraordinary and it is filled with rich detail about the Bodleian Library, the historical events, the people Diana meets and everything around her. It does slow down the reader, but it is all so fascinating that it adds to the appeal of the story. Both Diana and Matthew are well drawn and pleasantly flawed yet accepting of each other’s secrets and weaknesses. The chemistry between the two is palpable and the suspense of what will happen next is steadily built; it will leave you wanting more even after finishing the almost 600-page book. This is a promising new series that will entrance the lover of paranormal books. Reviewed by Debbie Suzuki The Knitting Diaries: The Twenty-First Wish\Coming Unraveled\Return to Summer Island By Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, Christina Skye Mira, $7.99, 352 pages You don’t have to be a knitter to read and enjoy this book. You might become one by
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doing so, however. Easy patterns preface each of the three novellas, which vary as much as yarns and patterns. Debbie Macomber’s opener The TwentyFirst Wish is a total charmer. Ten-year-old Ellen knows she’s adopted by Anne Marie, a widow, but how do these two react when they discover Ellen’s biological father Tim? Coming Unraveled by Susan Mallery moves the action to a little town in Texas, and the return home of Robyn Mulligan to help her Grandmother recuperate after knee surgery. Grandma’s yarn shop has been a haven for lost souls since it opened, but there weren’t too many men there until T. J. Passman needs physical therapy after a horrendous accident that cost him his wife and child, and nearly his will to live. In Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye, Caro McNeal returns to the coast of Oregon. After years in Chicago, an accident weakens her arm and hand so she cannot knit. Along with the goal of being able to knit once again comes an unexpected romance with a Marine lieutenant headed to Afghanistan. Reviewed by Kelly Ferjutz My One and Only By Kristan Higgins HQN Books, $7.99, 379 pages Decidedly unromantic divorce attorney Harper James has her life all planned out, including her upcoming marriage to her uncommitted boyfriend, Dennis. Getting him on board, however, is the problem. Her life is further complicated by the upcoming nuptials of her much-married, beloved younger stepsister, Willa. And then there’s the concern that the groom just happens to be the brother of Harper’s own ex-husband, Nick. Harper and Dennis make the trip from New York to Montana for the wedding at the picturesque Glacier National Park, where Harper of course encounters her exhusband, for whom she still has feelings, and complications ensue. I was kept engaged by the first-person voice of the Harper James character: coolly cynical about romance and marriage, she nevertheless regularly calls on her parish priest for advice. The plot is not quite at the same level as the characters, however, much of it predictable: of course See ONE, cont’d on page 19
May/June 11
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