Review: Firethorn by Ronie Kendig

Title: Firethorn (Discarded Heroes #4)
Author: Ronie Kendig
Genre: Contemporary Christian
Heat Index: 1 out of 5
Release Date: 1/2012
Word/Page Count: 350 pp
Format: Netgalley

Former Marine Griffin Riddell had found purpose working with Nightshade—until he’s falsely convicted of a murder that plants him in a federal penitentiary. Is there anyone he can trust? Amid explosive confusion, covert operative Kazi Faron breaks Griffin out of a maximum-security prison. Then she delivers the death-blow—-the Nightshade team has been dismantled. Together Kazi and Griffin must rescue the others and figure out who’s behind the sabotage. Can two people overcome their mistrust of each other in time to save Nightshade?

Review: Firelight by Kristin Callihan

Title: Firelight (The Darkest London #1)
Author: Kristin Callihan
Genre: Paranormal/Historical
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Jan. 31 2012
Word/Page Count: 384 pgs
Format: Netgalley

London, 1881
Once the flames are ignited . . .
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .
Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask

Review: The Night is Mine by M.L. Buchman

Title: The Night is Mine
Author: M.L. Buchman
Genre: Military, Suspense
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Feb. 1, 2012
Word/Page Count: 384 pgs
Format: Netgalley

First in a thrilling military romantic suspense series based on the real-life elite helicopter pilots who transport Navy SEALs and Delta Force teams in and out of combat and covert missions. (SOAR are the heroes of Black Hawk Down.)

Buchman’s heroine flys the most dangerous military ops and tries to find the one man who can be a hero in her own life. Ace-pilot Captain Emily Beale goes undercover as bodyguard to the First Lady, with her rugged commander, Major Mark Henderson, who is determined to cover her back. Can she learn to keep her desire at bay before her covert mission implodes?

Review: How to Dance with a Duke by Manda Collins

Title: How to Dance with a Duke
Author: Manda Collins
Genre: Historical Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: January 31st
Word/Page Count: 400 pages
Format: NetGalley

What’s a wallflower to do when she’s suddenly in need of a husband? Use all the pluck and moxie she can muster to get what she wants…

Miss Cecily Hurston would much rather explore the antiquities of Egypt than the uncharted territory of marriage. But the rules of her father’s exclusive academic society forbid her entrance unless she weds one of its members. To clear her ailing father’s name of a scandalous rumor, Cecily needs to gain admission into the Egyptian Club—and is willing to marry any old dullard to do it.

Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is anything but dull. He’s a dashing and decorated war hero determined to help Cecily—even if that means looking the other way when she claims the dance card of Amelia Snow, this season’s most sought-after beauty. But Lucas has a reason for wanting Cecily to join the Egyptian Club: His brother went missing during one of Lord Hurston’s expeditions to Egypt. An alliance with the explorer’s bluestocking daughter could bring Lucas closer to the truth about what happened…or it could lead him to a more dangerous love than either he or Cecily could have imagined….

Review: Banshee Charmer by Tiffany Allee

Title: Banshee Charmer (From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency #1)
Author: Tiffany Allee
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Word/Page Count: 159 pages
Format: NetGalley

When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one “hot” as well. But Aidan knows more than he’s letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer’s growing body count…

Review: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Title: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Highland Pleasures #1)
Author: Jennifer Ashely
Genre: Historical Romance
Heat Index: 4 out of 5
Release Date: April 28th, 2009
Word/Page Count: 320 pages
Format: Purchased

The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family--rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn't be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them--of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.

The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He's also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.

Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama--an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.

And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.

The first of a new historical series.

Review: The Battle Sylph

Title: The Battle Sylph (Sylph #1)
Author: L. J. McDonald
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 4 out of 5
Release Date: March 28th, 2010
Word/Page Count: 323 pages
Format: NetGalley

He is one of many: a creature of magic, unrelentingly male. He is lured through the portal by pure female beauty, a virgin sacrifice. She is killed, and he is silenced and enslaved.

Such a dark ritual is necessary. Unlike their elemental cousins—those gentler sylphs of wind and fire—battlers find no joy in everyday labor. Their magic can destroy an army or demolish a castle, and each has but one goal: find his queen, then protect and pleasure her at any cost. What would a maiden do if she were given such a servant? What would befall that kingdom foolish enough to allow a battler to escape? Young Solie and the people of Eferem are about to find out.

Review: Reckless by Anne Stuart

Title: Reckless (The House of Rohan #2)
Author: Anne Stuart
Genre: Historical Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: September 1st, 2010
Word/Page Count: 408 pages
Format: Purchased

Adrian Alistair Rohan lost his faith, and now, a dedicated member of the depraved Heavenly Host, he loses himself in his only pleasure: the seduction and debauchery of beautiful women. Rich, charming and devastatingly skilled in the arts of love, he never fails in his conquests... until Charlotte Spenser.

Charlotte is facing a desolate, passionless future, none of which matters to Adrian, who imagines her a toy until better prey arrives. But beneath her drab exterior, Charlotte is a woman as enchanting as she is brilliant and, lured into Adrian's world, soon she becomes the seducer, and he the seduced...

Review: Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

Title: Gil's All Fright Diner
Author: A. Lee Martinez
Genre: Horror (Humor)
Heat Index: 1 out of 5
Release Date: June, 2006
Word/Page Count: 268 pps
Format: Purchased

Bloodier than Fried Green Tomatoes!
Funnier than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

Welcome to Gil's All Night Diner, where zombie attacks are a regular occurrence and you never know what might be lurking in the freezer. . . .

Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around--until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them one hundred dollars to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley.

But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg. Seems someone's out to drive Loretta from the diner, and more than willing to raise a little hell on earth if that's what it takes. Before Duke and Earl get to the bottom of the diner's troubles, they'll run into such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jailbait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig Latin.

And maybe--just maybe--the End of the World, too.

Gory, sexy, and flat-out hilarious, Gil's All Fright Diner will tickle your funny bone--before ripping it out of its socket!

Review: Kiss of Twilight by Loribelle Hunt

Title: Kiss of Twilight (Dark Bonds #2)
Author: Loribelle Hunt
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Dec. 26, 2011
Word/Page Count: 88,000 words
Format: Netgalley

Dupree Jackson is everything a senior soldier of the Order of Templar should be. Cold. Unbreakable. A master at arms in the fight against demons. But as a hybrid, Dupree is beginning to lose himself to the demon half of his soul. One woman has the power to save him. If he lets her.

Kara Stone wants two things in life: to be merged with a demon so that she can become a full member of the Order; and Dupree Jackson. She knows they are meant to be together, if only Dupree would love her back.

Though his desire for Kara is undeniable, Dupree's need to protect her is stronger. Not wanting to see her merge, to face the internal struggle he deals with every day, he refuses to bond with her. But when Kara becomes a target and uncovers a dark secret about her past, Dupree may no longer have a choice...

Review: Touch of Power by Maria Snyder

Title: Touch of Power (Healer #1)
Author: Maria Snyder
Genre: YA
Heat Index: 1 out of 5
Release Date: Dec. 27, 2011
Word/Page Count: 394 pgs
Format: Netgalley

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

Review: The Dragon Who Loved Me by G. A. Aiken

Title: The Dragon Who Loved Me (The Dragon Kin #5)
Author: G. A. Aiken
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Sept. 6, 2011
Word/Page Count: 383 pages
Format: Purchased

I was raised for battle. And as the first daughter of a warrior family, I've earned my reputation the hard way. Yet now I fight alongside uncivilized male Northland dragons who think a female is only good for breeding and waiting back home in the cave. But it's the foolish and foolhardy who would try to stop me, Rhona the Fearless, from doing what I do best—destroying the enemies of my kind.

So the smartest thing wily barbarian Vigholf the Abhorrent can do for me is stay out of my way as we risk all on a deadly mission in enemy territory. I don't care if he's fascinated by me, even though he is as attractive as he is resourceful. He's having far too much fun putting me in difficult situations and testing my sense of duty to the limit. And I'm going to enjoy challenging his insufferable confidence, outwitting his schemes, and making him surrender in the wildest ways. . .

Review: Bunny and the Bear by Eve Langlais

Title: Bunny and the Bear (Furry United Coalition #1)
Author: Eve Langlais
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 4 out of 5
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2011
Word/Page Count: 41,000 words
Format: Purchased

What’s a poor bear to do when all he wants is some sweet, bunny pie?

Bears and bunnies aren’t supposed to mix, or that’s what Chase keeps telling himself when his bouncy new neighbor won’t stay out of his business—and his mind. However, the more he gets to know his overly perky neighbor, the more he craves her—naked in his grasp—a desire worse than his addiction to honey and pie.

Miranda’s on a mission for the Furry United Coalition, and it involves secretly guarding one grumpy ol’ bear. Staying focused on the job isn’t easy when all she can think about is turning his frown upside down, a task made harder when she gets a glimpse of his passion. When she hears about his theory on woodland creatures and predators not mixing, she thinks all is lost, but she didn’t count on a bear’s curious nature—and possessive need.

When an evil force abducts Chase, Miranda unleashes her bunny in order to save him, but the revelation of her shifter side puts her in danger. Is one ornery bear enough to save her from a mad scientist? And if he does, can a bear forget her woodland creature status long enough to love her and make her his mate?

Warning: Pies were harmed in the making of this story and naughty references made about honey that might offend some readers

Review: Because of You by Jessica Scott

Title: Because of You (Coming Home #1)
Author: Jessica Scott
Genre: Military Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Nov. 14, 2011
Word/Page Count: 224 pages
Format: Netgalley

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again—until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.

Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels—for the first time in a long time—like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty—it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected—her deepest desire.

Poena's Top Ten for 2012

To be honest, I had to think long and hard about this list and most of the books I found by accident. Of course, once I started looking...well, ya know how that goes. LOL.

Exogene

The Seduction of Phaeton Black

Nightshifted

Fair Game

Born to Darkness

Iron Wyrm Affair

Discount Armageddon

Firelight

A Rising Thunder

Bear Meets Girl

Honorable Mentions (or w/o covers):
G.A. Aiken - How to Drive a Dragon Crazy
Ilona Andrews - Gunmetal Magic
Nalini Singh - Tangle of Need
Eve Langlais - Claiming Her Geeks

Review: Lesserblood Lies by Ainsley Davidson

Title: Lesserblood Lies
Author: Ainsley Davidson
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Dec. 6, 2011
Word/Page Count: 81,000
Format: Netgalley

To protect her children from the despotic Trueblood, Merianne defied them by taking her girls and fleeing the planet. Even though Merianne's daughters are Lesserblood, they have the Talents. The Trueblood would train her children to use their dangerous gifts, but their methods are cruel, and Merianne would never see her girls again.

Merianne tries to give her girls a safe, quiet life, but when they befriend Thorne, a brilliant scientist, she finds herself drawn to the kind and captivating man—despite his uncanny resemblance to the Trueblood.

Thorne wants to help the girls control their emerging Talents, and he's intrigued by their mother. But just as Merianne finally accepts Thorne's help, two of her children are seized. To rescue the girls, Merianne and Thorne must risk death at the hands of the Trueblood, who will kill to protect their lies.

Review: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Title: Grave Witch (Alex Craft #1)
Author: Kalayna Price
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Heat Index: 1 out of 5
Release Date: December 16th, 2010
Word/Page Count: 325 pages
Format: Purchased

Not even death can save her now.

As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead-she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case. When she's raising a "shade" involved in a high profile murder, it attacks her, and then someone makes an attempt on her life. Someone really doesn't want her to know what the dead have to say, and she'll have to work with mysterious homicide detective Falin Andrews to figure out why...

Review: Bearded Women Stories by Teresa Milbrodt

Title: Bearded Women Stories
Author: Teresa Milbrodt
Genre: Short stories
Heat Index: 1 out of 5
Release Date: Nov. 1, 2011
Word/Page Count: 250 pages
Format: NetGalley

Welcome to the contemporary Freak Show! A woman trying to have a child has a parasitic twin, an extra lower torso, and set of legs named Bianca - should she have "Bianca''s Body" removed to improve her chances at conception? A bearded lady considers coming out of the closet about her hirsute nature, while carrying on a battle of wills with an overeating patron in "Mr. Chicken." A woman with four ears gets a chance to make extra money as the mascot of a tattoo parlour, and encounters a middle-aged, cookie-baking stalker who believes she is a sign that the end of the world is nigh. Meet the "freaks"-they''re mothers, wives, and lovers: all of them trying negotiate a world that is quicker to stare than sympathize.

Review: All of You by Rhian Cahill

Title: All of You
Author: Rhian Cahill
Genre: Erotic Romance
Heat Index: 5 out of 5
Release Date: Sept. 2011
Word/Page Count: approx: 38,000
Format: ARC

Claire Jones never dreamed the fantasies she'd been having about the young guy next door would ever become reality, but after a push from her best friend and one encounter involving dirty laundry, she's getting more reality than one woman should be allowed. But with reality comes emotion, and Claire finds herself falling deeper and deeper under Ryan's spell.

Ryan Doherty wants in Claire's pants, but he soon discovers hot sex isn't all he's after. She makes him happy in a way nothing and no one else ever has, and if he has to use their amazing chemistry to stay in her life, he will. Because having more of Claire isn't an option. It's the only choice.

Can Ryan and Claire bridge the age gap to find the love of a lifetime, or will what others think destroy the best thing either of them has ever found?

Review: Demons Like It Hot by Sidney Ayers

Title: Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)
Author: Sidney Ayers
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: Didn't get that far.
Release Date: December 1st, 2011
Word/Page Count: 384 pages
Format: NetGalley

Serah SanGermano runs a successful catering company in a Midwestern town. After she inadvertently helped her friend unleash a legion of demons, she's been trying to hide her own newly discovered powers. Matthias Ambrose, a mysterious demon mercenary sent to protect her, has his own secret— one that will embroil them both in the scandal from hell.