Review: A Low Down Dirty Shane by Sierra Dean

Format Read: e-book purchased by reviewer
Length: 92 pages
Genre: urban fantasy
Series: Misfits & Mayhem #1
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Formats Available: mass-market paperback, e-book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher’s Website, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

Thick-skinned vampire assassin meets smart-mouthed druid archer. Run, Cupid, run.

Shane Hewitt has been many things—failed husband, supernatural punching bag, and now a bitch to the vampire council of New York City. He thought killing rogue vampires was the hardest thing he’d ever do. Until a hot redhead smashes into him, shouts orders and announces she’s saving his life.

The sole female warrior in a family of druids, Siobhan O’Malley knows how to take care of herself and protect the big city from beasties who breach gateways from the fae realm. The last thing she needs is a misguided, leather-clad hottie’s help to get the job done.

Except maybe he’s exactly what she needs. Siobhan is expected to be a willing, …

Guest Post: Top ten Christmas Songs by Robin Covington + Giveaway!

Is it “Silent Night”? “O Tanenbaum”?  “Jingle Bell Rock”? Today at BLI, romance author Robin Covington stops by to share with us some of her favorite holiday tunes, along with reasons why they’ve touched her heart. With over 600 such tunes on her iPod, it’s safe to say she’s an authority on the matter. ^_^ Her latest story, Secret Santa Baby, falls right into that spirit of Christmas, nerd style! (More on that later.)

Please show Robin a warm BLI welcome! (And for the record, I’m all about “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree”; modern classics! What about you?) 

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My Top Ten Favorite Christmas Songs

I start listening to Christmas in October. Now, I have compromised with the Main Man and I don’t play it in the house or the car while he is around until after Thanksgiving because he is not a huge fan …

New Releases: December 24-30, 2012

Last Kiss Goodnight (Otherworld Assassin #1)
by Gena Showalter
Genre: paranormal romance
Release date: December 26, 2012 by Pocket Books

Description:

The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…
Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…
Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. …

Guest Post + Excerpt by Hailey Edwards + Giveaway!

Merry mid-Week, book lovers! We’re really excited to be welcoming Hailey Edwards back to BLI today. Hailey is author of romance fiction including the popular fantasy romance series, Araneae Nation. Today, she stops by from her blog tour to share some fascinating lessons about one of the many herbs employed by the heroine of her latest novel, A Feast of Souls. How much do you know about herbs and spices? Whether it’s but a pinch or a whole satchel, you may learn something new. So check out what Hailey’s got to say about…

Anise!

While writing A Feast of Souls, I researched herb lore because the heroine, Mana, is a spirit walker. In the Araneae world, that makes her a spiritual leader for her clan, one who can walk in between worlds and aid in healing from the spiritual plane. Mana also studies herbology. She is no doubt responsible for feeding …

Review: Moonglow by Kristen Callahan

Format Read: e-book provided by publisher
Length: 384 pages
Genre: historical paranormal romance
Series: Darkest London, #2
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Publisher: Forever
Formats Available: mass-market paperback, e-book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

Once the seeds of desire are sown…

Finally free of her suffocating marriage, widow Daisy Ellis Craigmore is ready to embrace the pleasures of life that have long been denied her. Yet her new-found freedom is short lived. A string of unexplained murders has brought danger to Daisy’s door, forcing her to turn to the most unlikely of saviors…

Their growing passion knows no bounds…

Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, has spent lifetimes hiding his primal nature from London society. But now a vicious killer threatens to expose his secrets. Ian must step out of the shadows and protect the beautiful, fearless Daisy, who awakens in him desires he thought long dead. As their quest to unmask the …

New Releases: December 17-23, 2012

A Feast of Souls (Araneae Nation, #2) by Hailey Edwards
Genre: paranormal romance
Release date: December 18, 2012 by Samhain Publishing

Description:

The only way to save her is to bind their souls as one.

Born with the ability to communicate with the dead, few things take Mana by surprise. But when a canis lopes into her life, announcing himself as the long-dead father of a childhood friend, she’s shocked. To make matters worse, he has a dire message that she alone can deliver.

Now Mana must face Vaughn, the male who inspired one too many girlish fantasies, and impart the spirit’s message—without acknowledging her source—so the soul can be laid to rest.

With rumors of a burgeoning clan war setting his nerves on edge, the last thing Vaughn needs is for an innocent to get caught in the crosshairs. But the woman he remembers as an awkward girl refuses to leave …

New Releases: December 10-16, 2012

Kiss of the Betrayer (Bringer and the Bane #2) by Boone Brux
Genre: paranormal romance
Release date: December 11, 2012 by Entangled Select

Description:

For fifteen years Luc Le Daun has blamed himself for the death of the woman he loved. His secret guilt has led him into a life of danger, risking all and committing to none.

Killing Luc Le Daun has been all Jade Kendell has thought about for years. But when her plan goes awry and she’s brought into the Bringers’ fold, her own dark secret threatens to be revealed. Desire for a better life wars with a promise made long before she understood the ramifications.

In a deadly mission, Jade and Luc embark on a journey into the Shadow World. As they attempt the impossible, ignoring the attraction growing between them becomes harder to deny. The slightest misstep could mean the loss of their souls and give …

Review: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Format Read: e-book provided by publisher
Length: 390 pages
Genre: fantasy
Series: Healer, #1
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Formats Available: mass-market paperback, e-book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes 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 Territories, 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 …

New Releases: December 3-9, 2012

Alien vs. Alien (Katherine “Kitty” Katt, #6) by Gini Koch
Genre: urban fantasy
Release date: December 4, 2012 by DAW

Description:

Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini and the rest of the American Centaurion Diplomatic Corps are still recovering from their introduction to Washington D.C. politics, parties, and conspiracies. So when compromising pictures arrive, no one’s too surprised. They’re also the least of anyone’s worries.

Evil androids running amok, birds of all kinds and from all places creating havoc, a Senator trapped in an ever-tightening web of intrigue, and escalating international tensions all seem tough but manageable. But the disappearance of Jeff Martini and Charles Reynolds during the International One World Festival signals more than the usual nastiness — and it looks like even ACE can’t help them.

Then new trouble arrives in old packages and even with the best hackers in the world, beings from near and far, the full might of Earth’s …

New Releases: Nov. 26 – Dec. 1, 2012

Moonshifted (Edie Spence #2) by Cassie Alexander
Genre: urban fantasy
Release date: November 27, 2012 by St. Martin

Description:

After surviving a brutal vampire attack, Nurse Edie Spence is ready to get back to work—attending to supernatural creatures in need of medical help. But her nursing skills are put to the test when she witnesses a hit-and-run on her lunch break. The injured pedestrian is not only a werewolf, he’s the pack leader. And now Edie’s stuck in the middle of an all-out were-war…

With two rival packs fighting tooth and nail, Edie has no intention of crossing enemy lines. But when she meets her patient’s nephew–a tattooed werewolf named Lucas with a predatory gleam in his eye that’s hard to resist–Edie can’t help but choose sides. The question is: can she trust this dangerous new ally? And can she trust her own instincts when she’s near him? Either …