Top 5 Sundays #9 - Favorite Fictional Families!

This week's Top 5 list focuses on favourite fictional families. These are the cohesive units bound by love and sometimes blood that provide our heroes and heroines with support, with lifelines, with sound arguments for claims of insanity. Some families are more involved, some are less in the know, but to be considered a real family the one thing they all have in common is love. Whether their son is a vampire, their sister sees dead people, their best friend's in love with a reaper or their in-laws vacation in Hell, the love binding this ragtag group of misfits together is undeniable and unconditional.

So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Favorite Fictional Families!


#5 - The Davidsons from the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones

In the first book, you're introduced to a successful, stuck-up, brainiac sister, a step-mother with buckets of prejudice and nothing short of hatred (born from jealousy no less) for her second step-daughter, a loving albeit passive father and a protective detective uncle Charley assists with murder investigations. By the end of the second book, however, it becomes clear that first impressions couldn't be more wrong.

#4 - The D'Artigo Sisters from the Otherworld series by Yasmine Galenorn

When this series starts off, three sisters - a witch, a cat shifter, and a vampire - live together in a large Victorian house while investigating magic based crimes on behalf of the Fae crown in another world. And then Camille, the eldest, falls in love and subsequently marries a dark elf, a youkai demon and a dragon. Delilah has a failed relationship with a detective - who ends up with the Elfin Queen's niece, a doctor, later on down the series - before settling in with a dragon halfbreed for a fiancee. Menolly has a committed relationship with a puma shifter. Iris, Camille's coworker at the start of the series, moves in with the girls and recently married a leprecaun. Rozurial, an incubus, pops up while hunting a rogue vampire in the third book and hangs around to fight the Big Bad. An dream demon jumps sides at another point and takes refuge with the girls. Shamus, their cousin, comes to stay after a harrowing experience in the Otherworld...and it goes on!

#3 - The Jenson-Moore Pack from the Riley Jensen series by Keri Arthur

Riley and her twin brother Rhoan were kicked out of their birth pack for being halfbreeds - half vampire, half werewolf. For a long, long time they were all each other had in the world. Fast forward to their happily ever after glimpsed in the spin-off series, Dark Angels, and you've got both Riley and Rhoan happily mated - her with husband Quinn, him with long time boyfriend Liander. Thanks to Liander's sister volunteering to be their surrogate, Liander and Riley have five children: Ronan, Liana, Darci, Kian and Nika. For a couple of unwanted pups, Riley and Rhoan have done more than well for themselves, don't you think?

#2 - The Price-Healy family from Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series

This is a family of cryptozoologists. Verity is the main character, an ambitious dancer and dedicated monster observer. She has a brother, Alex, and sister, Antimony, and the three of them are descended from not one, but two (at least) long lines of renegade monster hunters who had the whacky idea that just because something wasn't human didn't mean it didn't deserve to live. Protective, loving, and supportive this family not only helps each other out with everything from monster research to relationship advice, they also provide pearl after pearl of hard earned wisdom. In Verity's own words, 

“Growing up in my family meant ambushes on your birthday, crossbows for Christmas, and games of dodge ball where the balls were occasionally rigged to explode. It also meant learning how to work your way out of a wide variety of death traps. Failure to get loose on your own could lead to missing dinner, or worse, being forced to admit that you missed dinner because your baby sister had tied you to the couch. Again.”

#1 - The Ranger Corps 2.0 from Kelly Meding's MetaWars series

You know that saying about blood being thicker than water? Turns out shared experiences trump blood. As children, Teresa, Gage, Renee, Ethan and Marco went through hell - literally. Their parents were superheroes which meant two things; one, they all inherited superpowers themselves and, two, supervillains were always trying to kill them. And then one day, in the middle of the battle that orphaned them, all the superpowers vanished. Skip ahead fifteen years and all of the sudden back the powers come and those five kids find themselves grown up and back together, doing the best they can to unravel the mystery, get a handle on long lost gifts and find their place in the not-so-friendly world they find themselves in. And they're doing all of that just like any family would - together.


And there you have it - my Top 5. Tune in next week for more. Ciao!

REVIEW: Kelly Meding's Changeling

Book: Changeling

Author: Kelly Meding

Series: MetaWars

Publishing stats: June 26th 2012 by Pocket Books (USA)

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Cover Blurb: HEROES FOR HIRE

After barely escaping a madman's attempt to annihilate all MetaHumans, Kelly Meding's supernatural crime fighters have banded together to take back the streets of war-ravaged Los Angeles.Dahlia "Ember" Perkins still feels like an outsider among her new Meta friends, despite everything she's been through since coming into her miraculous ability to absorb heat and extinguish fires. But when the police need help investigating human skins discarded like slipcovers on the street, the Metas' youngest team member quickly finds her place. Evidence points to a murderer the likes of which they have never encountered but who inexplicably seems to be gunning for Dahlia-and who may be neither human nor Meta. After a bullet meant for her nearly kills one of her teammates, Dahlia uncovers a connection to the crimes buried deep in her past. As the danger escalates and her personal life falls apart, Dahlia soon learns there's no such thing as a "normal" relationship when you're a superhero. . .

First line: "Who’s got the friggin’ fire extinguisher?"

What I liked: I loved how the perspective change in this book really and truly affected a brand new view of this world. The first book in this series was narrated by Teresa "Trance" West and focused on the heroes getting their powers back after a fifteen year absence and learning how to cope and find their place in a hostile world. This book was narrated by Dahlia "Ember" Perkins, the new girl on the super-powered block and the only member of the team who didn't spend a chunk of their childhood living with the others. I loved that her tone was so distinct from Teresa's. It was nice starting the series with a narrator who was able to contrast the characters against their childhood selves and then, for the second book, see those same characters with fresh eyes ignorant of who they once were.

What I didn’t like: This is another one where I didn't like the ending. Not because it wasn't good - it was great and accomplished everything an ending in an ongoing series is supposed to do, namely leave you wanting more. My problem with it was that it felt less like an ending and more like a pause. Which would be fine if the next book was picking up with a new point of view and focusing on other characters having their time in the limelight. The love story element in particular was left in question with one hell of an obstacle left in its path.

Overall: One of the things I love about this series is how the author takes pains to deal with consequences. How many times has Superman been thrown through a building? How about Green Lantern - how often has his ring-generated creations gone awry and squashed a car or two? And those are just the good guys. Ms. Meding takes the genre of superheroes - the powers, the team dynamics, the villains, the government agencies/distrust - and infuses the lot of it with a heavy dose of realism, transitioning it from the impossible to the improbable. The adventures these heroes undergo are believable and playout in a Hansel and Gretel style that keeps you guessing until the last minute - and in neither book did I see the major twists coming until POOF! There they were. Overall, a fantastic read.

Would I read this author again: Yes. I've always been a sucker for superheroes and their adventures.

My rating: ♥♥♥♥♥/5

To purchase the book for yourself, you can find it at Chapters.Indigo.ca, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or The Book Depository. Enjoy!

Elementary, My Dear - Fantasy Going Urban

And I think to myself, What a wonderful world...

When it comes to high fantasy, each series has a world of its own. Whether it's Tolkien's Middle Earth, Piers Anthony's Xanth, Lisa Shearin's Mid, or Anne Bishop's realms of Terreille, Kaeleer, and Hell,  high fantasy gives readers worlds that are entirely based on their authors' imaginations. These are places where the laws of physics have been tossed out the window, where every creature, plant, and object is something completely foreign even in its familiarity, where the geography is uncharted and comes to light one word at a time.

Urban fantasy, in contrast, takes the elements of fantasy and incorporates them into the everyday cities we know. For example, Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels lives in Atlanta, GA, Vicki Pettersson set her Signs of the Zodiac series in Las Vegas, NV, and Devon Monk has Ally Beckstrom running around Portland, OR. Even unidentified cities, such as the setting for Stacia Kane's Downside series, still allow that familiar urban tone that sets this genre apart.

But the city setting is just one facet of this genre. Another is the world-building; how does the author take that everyday city you're familiar with and infuse it with elements of another world? It's not as easy as it might sound; you can't just replace airplanes with dragons and call it a day. There's a certain degree of weaving to be done as authors draw in the fantastical to blend seamlessly with the ordinary.

For some, the presence of magic and its various creatures is hidden, comprising its own hidden world right beside our own. For Charley Davidson, lead heroine in a series by Darynda Jones, the supernatural takes the form of ghosts and demons only Charley and those of her ilk can see. In Kristen Painter's House of Comarré, a covenant made between angels and demons masks the existence of the vampires, demons and their world from the humans. Other authors have the paranormal world hidden with assistance from within regular society or from networks and agencies devoted solely to ensuring the fantastic remains secret. Take Meljean Brook's Guardian series. An organization is set up in the first book taking the existing good guy warrior force and turning into an agency supported by American senators but without the knowledge of the American people. As a result, one of the agency's jobs is to put a spin on any supernatural event that catches public notice. Similarly, the vampires in Jeri-Smith Ready's WVMP Radio series fall under the provision of an agency called the Control which ensures those vampires able to blend in with society are provided with blood when necessary and that those vampires unable to control themselves are kept away from the general public - either by containment or execution. In a nice twist, the vampire DJs of WVMP actually came out to the public as vampires...but, a la Lestat, no one of course believes it to be more than a gimmick.

Several series are actually set either just before or immediately after the public revelation of the supernatural world's existence. Molly Harper had vampires outed to the world in her Jane Jameson series when one recently fired vamp challenged his dismissal by claiming he was being discriminated against on account of his vampirism. Other series take it one step at a time; in Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson series for instance the werewolves announce themselves to the world in a controlled manner following the earlier success of the Fae using similar methods. And then there are the times when some supernatural creature forgets to put their glamour on one morning and ends up on national news. Not all worlds, after all, come complete with MIB Neuralyzers or Charmed Cleaners. Take the outing of the Monère in Sunny's Mona Lisa series; their big reveal to the world comes when one of their own saves a friend from a burning building in front of reporters...by sprouting wings and flying to safety.

A particularly creative twist - or perhaps "combination" would be a more appropriate word - of both these last two styles is seen in Vicki Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series. On the one hand, mortals who get  too entangled in the battle between the Light and Shadow Zodiac signs have their memory erased, Star agents live under assumed identities that are discarded the moment they become suspect, and each side has a sanctuary located (and hidden) in an alternate dimension. On the other hand, the exploits of both sides are published in graphic novels sold to the public, specifically children and teens.

My personal favourite approach is the jump-to-the-future method employed by such authors as Ilona Andrews and Stacia Kane. At some point in the past, magic revealed itself. In Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, magic returned - literally - in the form of unstable waves putting the world in a flux between magic and technology. For Stacia Kane's Downside series, one day ghosts rose up in droves and went on homicidal sprees among the living. Jump ahead a decade or two or more and that's where the story picks up, at a point where society has already settled in and grown accustomed to the presence of magic and monsters.

Similarly, some authors seem to shift their story into a parallel world when magic has always been a known entity. Take the Portland of Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series, where magic has become something of a commodity, the price of which is paid in pain...your own or someone else's. Wen Spencer literally has Pittsburgh, PA shift into a whole other world - called Elfhome - for all but three days of each month in her Tinker series. Caris Roane has her Guardians of Ascension series taking place on several plains of existence but all in the same cities.

For me personally, the appeal of these books, of this genre, is how author after author takes the extraordinary, wraps it in the ordinary, and puts their own twist on it. Whether its magic waves in a futuristic Atlanta, a magic price-and-payment system in Portland, outed vampires selling books in Kentucky or they-told-because-they-wouldn't-be-believed-anyway DJs, urban fantasy at its core suggests that even in reality magic and fantasy are a possibility just waiting to be  discovered beneath the surface.

And what UF bookworm can't get behind that?

REVIEW: Jeri Smith-Ready's Let it Bleed

Book: Let it Bleed

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready

Series: WVMP Radio

Publishing stats: eBook released by author on June 26, 2012

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Cover Blurb: BLOOD IS THICKER THAN SLAUGHTER

Con artist-turned-radio-station-manager Ciara Griffin hopes to settle into a normal un-life as a fledgling vampire, with the help of her immortally hot fiancé, grunge DJ Shane McAllister. But she has bigger problems than finding a sane blood donor and a new home for those boxes of mac ‘n’ cheese. Ciara’s best friend mourns her like she’s dead instead of undead, and her own maker clearly wishes she’d never been born (again). Worst of all, the WVMP crew calls a Code Black: hippie vampire DJ Jim has murdered a pair of humans—humans who share Ciara’s true last name.

That’s when trouble rolls out the red carpet, straight into Ciara’s life. At Shane’s first live concert, Ciara finds herself face to face with her Irish Traveller cousins, a not-so-welcome family reunion that might hold the key to Ciara’s anti-holy blood. Jim’s spiral into madness makes Ciara an unwilling prize in his deadly feud with Shane. As Ciara clings to what’s left of her humanity, she’ll need her new vampire strength—and old con artist cunning—now more than ever.

First line: I avoid mirrors these days—not because they don’t show my reflection, but because they do.

What I liked: What I've always loved about this series is how it makes a present tense narrative work. It gives the stories a sense of immediacy and forces you, as the reader, to wonder if the narrator really will survive to the end. After all, for something to be in past tense it stands to reason the narrator made it to the future. Smith-Ready's stories remove that safety net, making everything all the more urgent as a consequence. Incidentally, Kresley Cole used present tense in Dark Needs at Night's Edge to indicate the madness of the hero, Conrad, but that's neither here nor there.

What I didn’t like: Ever have one of those endings when you understand the sequence of events but you're kind of foggy on the actual consequences? It's a little like what you'd feel if Peter Jackson had  cut Saruman's death scene from Return of the King. Sure, you get the idea that's he's been defeated and pretty much no longer a threat but he's also not got a boogeyman vibe going on now that his ultimate fate is obscured. This is pretty much what happens in regards to the big bad of Let it Bleed.

Overall: I liked it. There was a lot of character development to be had and a lot of questions left hanging from past books get answered, including whether or not Monroe will ever be able to accept Ciara and how Ciara's changing into a vamp will affect her friendship with Lori. I loved how Ciara's Traveller family was brought into the story and it was a treat to get to see a different sort of vampire come on the scene. The story could have used more scenes (and by "more" I of course mean "at least one") where Ciara and Shane just get to be a couple; instead, most of their scenes either focus on her newly acquired vampire status, her newly arrived (and promptly killed) family...followed by more family of a less dead persuasion and the Big Bad dilemma. It was good, but some glimpses of drama free normalcy would have balanced everything out.

Would I read this author again: Yes. There's just one book left, after all, until Ciara and Shane get their long promised happily ever after.

My rating: ♥♥♥/5

To get hold of the book for yourself, you can find more information regarding its impending release on Jeri Smith-Ready's website.

Top 5 Sundays #8 - Most Looking Forward to! {In the 2nd Half 2012}

2012 has been one heck of a good year for book releases and it doesn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon. Remember my Top 5 post two weeks ago? "Fave Books from First Half of 2012!"? So many authors, so many books have already released that it's hard to imagine the coming months could compete. That is, until you look at the release schedule and realize that it's not only imaginable, it's impending. Listed here today are some of the books I'm looking the most forward to.

#5 - Chosen (Dark Breed #3) by Sable Grace

Expected publication: August 28th 2012 by Avon Books 

She was a Dark Breed -- half Vampyre, half Lychen.
 

Now she is CHOSEN…

Kyana is the new Goddess of the Hunt, chosen for her determination to survive as much as for her passion to protect those she loves. Now, just when she's finally ready to shed her past and let the one man who really matters into her heart, an evil has resurrected, and only Kyana stands in its way.

But Ryker, as the new Zeus, will not let her fight alone. It has taken him too long to convince Kyana they belong together for him to lose her. And if it means descending into the depths of Hades to make the ultimate sacrifice, then so be it.

The fate of the world is at stake, and for Kyana and Ryker, no fight has ever been more personal.

#4 - Blood Bath and Beyond (An Immortality Bites Mystery #1) by Michelle Rowen

Expected publication: August 7th 2012 by NAL Obsidian

Sarah Dearly is adjusting to life as a fledgling vampire, satisfying her cravings at vampire-friendly blood banks. But when her fiancé Thierry takes a job with the Ring—the secret council in charge of keeping vampires in line—Sarah’s about to get more than a taste of danger…

Being engaged to a centuries-old master vampire can be challenging—especially when he takes a job with the Ring. Thierry’s in for fifty years of nonstop travel and deadly risk. It’s enough to make any woman reconsider the wedding…any woman except Sarah, that is!

Traveling with him to Las Vegas for his first assignment, they encounter a child beauty pageant contestant from hell, as well as a vampire serial killer leaving victims drained of blood, potentially exposing the existence of vampires to the whole world. But when Thierry’s truly ancient history comes back to haunt him, and he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit, it’s up to Sarah to clear his name before their immortal lives come to an end.

#3 - A Trace of Moonlight (Abby Sinclair #3) by Allison Pang

 Expected publication: October 30th 2012 by Pocket  

Drinking from the waters of the Lethe and offering herself up as Faerie’s sacrificial Tithe …these just might be the least of Abby Sinclair’s problems.

Abby’s pact with a demon—whether or not she remembers making it—is binding, so she’d better count herself lucky that (in the words of a daemon who knows better) there’s nearly always a loophole. But her friends’ reckless attempts to free her, well intentioned though they may be, set off a disastrous chain of events. In no time at all, Abby turns her incubus lover mortal and gets herself killed, cursed, and married to an elven prince whose mother wants her dead. She might have even been able to recover from all that had she not lost the Key to the CrossRoads to her mortal enemy, who promptly uses his restored power to wreak havoc on the OtherWorld and put its very existence in jeopardy.

Only one person can make things right again, but to find her Abby must place her trust in allies of mixed loyalties, and conquer her nightmares once and for all.

#2 - Lord's Fall (Elder Races #5) by Thea Harrison  

Expected publication: November 6th 2012 by Berkley 

In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them...

Before she met Dragos, half-human half-wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now, she's mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyr's frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners, in more places than just the bedroom.

In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the games heat up, Pia's negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear...

#1 - Widow’s Web (Elemental Assassin #7) by Jennifer Estep

 Expected publication: August 21st 2012 by Pocket  

I used to murder people for money, but these days it’s more of a survival technique.

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town.

Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back in town, she thinks he’s hers for the taking.

Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.

**BONUS** - Out for Blood (House of Comarré #4) by Kristen Painter 

 Expected publication: October 30th 2012 by Orbit 

After nearly dying at the hands of the Aurelian, Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré. That is until the Kubai Mata bring a new task to her doorstep: rescue the child Tatiana has kidnapped, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

From Dear Author: The Case of The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk and Charles Carreon

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REVIEW: Caris Roane's Ascension

Book: Ascension

Author: Caris Roane

Series: The World of Ascension

Publishing stats: December 28th 2010 by St. Martin's Paperbacks (USA)

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Cover Blurb: On The Wings of Desire

Alison Wells is no ordinary woman. Born with super-natural powers, she can never make love to a man without putting him in grave danger. But when her special vision reveals a glorious muscled man soaring overhead on might wings, she feels an overwhelming attraction she cannot resist-even as he tells her “I have come for you. Your blood belong to me.”

In the Heat of Passion

Kerrick is a vampire and a warrior who has fought his hunger for a woman’s love for the past two hundred years. As a Guardian of Ascension, he is sworn to protect Alison from the death vamp armies who crave her blood and her power. But Kerrick has cravings of his own-a forbidden longing to open his heart and veins to Alison. To share his blood…satisfy his thirst…and seal their fates forever.

First line: Kerrick stood by the bar at The Blood and Bite, looking for a woman, the right woman, the one that would keep his head straight, the one he craved.

What I liked: This book had humans transcending to live as super-powered, vampire-angels hybrid warriors. Just...think about that for a minute. One minute the main character - Alison - is just your ordinary, one of the mill psychologist. Sure, her psyche isn't the healthiest, but she's basically pretty normal. The next minute she's shooting beams out of her hands, teleporting all over, taking telepathic strolls, rewriting genetic code with her thoughts, and being informed her wings are on order. It's ridiculous. And yet...it works. Somehow, with the plot, with these characters, what you would normally think of as beyond campy comes across as exotic and sexy.

What I didn’t like: I hate those romances where the hero and heroine dillydally getting together because of they let their pasts get between them. Repeatedly. Alison allowed her greatest fears to be played against her by the enemy and Kerrick lets her go because he fears the danger his lifestyle might pose to her. And you know what? I'd be just fine with that...if both of them weren't already in danger independently. I mean, heck, if bad guys are going to be targeting both you and your significant love regardless of whether or not you're together, using that as your reason not to be together is just plain dumb. 

Overall: Ms. Roane works with a large cast, including - but in no way limited to - over a half dozen warriors, their femme fatale boss, her administrative staff, the Big Bad, his minions and Alison's family. Dips are made into several of the characters' back story - including two of the bad guys and the roots are laid for the romance of set to take centre stage in book two. The most amazing part of all this, however, is that the writing accomplishes all this without sacrificing the integrity of any other elements. A truly amazing feat when you take in just how complex and varied a book this really is.

Would I read this author again: Yes. I love the flow of the writing and the vein of humour that runs through it. Definitely makes future books worth the read.

My rating: ♥♥♥♥/5

To purchase the book for yourself, you can find it at Chapters.Indigo.ca, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or The Book Depository. Enjoy!