Dance with the Devil (Dark Hunter Series #4) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Genre: Romance, Paranormal

Spoiler Free Summary: Zarek is a Dark Hunter so out of control that he has been banished in remote Alaska for 900 years. Astrid is a nymph who is sent to judge whether Zarek should be killed. Zarek is one of my favorite characters of all time. And like Astrid, too. This book also described Blood Rite Squires, Simi, and details of Ash and Artemis' relationship.

The Best: Zarek's smart mouth comments.

The Worst: there are some hard to swallow plot points, but very forgivable...

Would You Recommend This Book? Absolutely! ***** (5!)

The Dark One, by Ronda Thompson

Armond and Rosalind - It was good -werewolf, abusive stepbrother, empowered and smart woman. Pretty cool. Did I mention it has werewolves? And it sets up stories for 3 other brothers??? :) ****

Night Embrace (Dark Hunter Series #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

This is Talon and Sunshine's story. ****(four atom bombs)

Educating Caroline, by Patricia Cabot

Genre: Romance, historical

Spoiler free description: When Lady Caroline sees her fiancee having sex with another woman, she examines her options and decides the only thing she can do is learn enough about bedroom things to be both a wife and a mistress to her fiancee. After asking around a bit she realizes she wants to learn (theory, of course) only from the best. So she seeks him out and asks to teach her. Patricia Cabot also writes young adult books as Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries)

The best: Really well written and funny! This is not your typical historical. The irreverent stream of conciousness of Caroline especially is extremely entertaining. I especially like the scene where Caroline approaches Braden and the many misunderstandings that occur in that conversation!

The worst: Caroline's fiancee. I know she needed one for the plot, but he was kind of boring.

Would you recommend this book? Absolutely!!!

*****(5 atom bombs)

Midnight Pleasures (Dark Hunter short story) Multiple authors

Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Short Story collection

Spoiler Free Summary:

Darkfest, Amanda Ashley - werewolf, middle ages romance. Good.

Phantom Lover, Sherrilyn Kenyon - actually had a surprise I didn't see coming! First look at the dream hunter world. Very good!

Under Her Spell, Maggie Shayne - Witches. Magic. Eh. Ok.

A Wulf's Curse, Ronda Thompson - part of the Wild Wulfs of London series. Werewolf. I enjoyed it and will read the rest! Very good.

The Best: Kenyon's story really surprised me. Maybe her best short story I've read... And I really want to read more Thompson!

The Worst: Too much magic detail in Under Her Spell - get to the romance already!

Would I recommend this book? Yes! Very good overall!

****(4 atom bombs)

Night Pleasures (Dark Hunter Series #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Genre: Romance, Paranormal

Spoiler free description: The second novel in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. This one actually introduces the Dark Hunter world, and characters from the first book make an appearance. Funny book. This was a multiple re-read for me and I still enjoyed it! This is a HEA book, but you want to know more about the other characters you meet!
The best: You didn't know what would happen next. Well written and not predictable.
The worst: no worst for me!
Would you recommend this book? Absolutely! One of my favorites!
***** (5 atom boms)

Bollywood Nights, by Shobhaa De

Spoiler free description: A fictional inside look on what life is like for Bollywood stars. It follows the life of a small town girl who becomes a big star, and what happens to her during and after her rise to fame. Not a romance. Pretty gritty reality, I think.

The best: I liked getting to see a world I can't even imagine.

The worst I didn't like how awful life was. It didn't seem like anything was good, and it made me never want to see a bollywood musical. If this is truely what Bollywood (or Hollywood) is like... I never want to see another movie again! Also, the outbursts of Hindi language in it made it challenging to follow at times.

Would you recommend this book? No, not unless the person had an interest in Bollywood. It may be well written, and it was hard to put down, but in a car crash kind of way.

** (2 atom boms)

Fantasy Lover (Dark Hunter Series #1), by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Spoiler free description: This book is the first in Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, though it doesn't contain any Dark Hunters, daimons, or other supernatural being that are in the rest of the series. Julian is a demi-god, though, and is also a sex-slave trapped in a book that Grace manages to summon. Julian and Grace do continue to appear throughout the series, though, and it's fun to know all the inside jokes that start in this book, especially Julian's driving skills!

The Best: That it's funny! And I kept reading and reading to find out what would happen. This was my 2nd time reading it, but the first was so long ago I couldn't remember details.

The Worst: Julian's "god" family. It's hard to believe his mother would have such a change of heart... to be so selfish and angry for so long... that required a little extra suspension of disbelief for me

Would you Recommend This Book? Yes! Definitely I don't like it as much as others in the series, but it is very good. And even though I didn't read it first, it probably would make the rest of the series better to read it first.

****.*(4.5 atom bombs)

Hidden Talents, by David Lubar

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi

A nice quick read at an elementary school level, I think. The book jacket says fourth grade classes are reading it. An interesting look at super powers and using them. I really liked the writing style that drew my in right away. I will try to see if Z will read this one. I like how the friendships formed.

**** four atom bombs. :)