Image borrowed from Miss Literati. Click on it to see ideas for 8 DIY Bookmarks to Give on Valentine’s Day. There’s still time to make them!
If you haven’t submitted the second title that you read for our Paranormal Romance meeting, please click here to add it to the list!
Title: The Down Home Zombie Blues
Author: Linnea Sinclair
Series: Atlantis, #1
Main Appeal Factors: Interesting premise, lots of action (fights, encounters), fast-paced plot
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts:
The antagonists are not technically zombies but mutated cyborg-type entities, and the romantic protagonists are an alien zombie hunter and a Florida detective. The two meet when the aliens try to recover technology left on Earth after a zombie attack on a fellow alien “embedded” in south Florida, which is being treated as a murder by the Florida police. There is fairly instant attraction, but the protagonists hold of from consummating the relationship for quite some time, which makes sense considering everything they’re dealing with. There is quite a bit of humor, interesting secondary characters, a love-triangle and a kind of Catch-22 for the protagonists regarding the detective’s learning the truth about the female protagonist’s alien origin.
Title: Heart of the Dragon
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Atlantis, #1
Main Appeal Factors: character-driven, steamy, fast paced, action packed, romantic
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: The story features a human female – young and adventurous Grace Carlyle – and the shape-shifting Darius en Kragin – King of the dragons in Atlantis. Grace is strong-willed and not intimidated by Darius and his warriors. She finds ways to escape Atlantis but is immediately drawn to Darius physically and emotionally and he feels the same for her.
The story begins with Grace in the Brazilian jungle where she is searching for Alex, her archaeologist brother. She discovers the portal to Atlantis, meets Darius in human form and the romance is on.
Grace escapes Atlantis and returns to New York still looking for her brother. Darius follows her and they agree to work together to find Alex while defeating a team of archaeologists who have formed an alliance with vampires and are looting and killing the dragons of Atlantis. The reader must suspend belief to appreciate the story line that humans and dragons can have a physical and romantic relationship in both the “real world” of New York City and the paranormal world of Atlantis.
Title: Heart Mate (Alternate title: HeartMate)
Author: Robin D. Owens
Series: Celta, #1
Main Appeal Factors: cats, psychic bonds, alien world
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: Hot but not steamy. Setting: Humans who left Earth because they were persecuted for their special abilities and have settled a not completely hospitable world.
Paranormal element: special abilities such as healing, working with metal, seeing the future. The hook? Cats! The cats are telepathic and bond with the main humans in the book. Romantic hook: some of the people on the planet have a heartmate which is a lifetime bond (involving, of course, hot sex and psychic links.) Give to fans of Jayne Castle!
Title: The Hot Zone
Author: Jayne Castle
Series: Rainshadow Island, #3
Main Appeal Factors: romance, quick read
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: The Hot Zone is a classic romance with a paranormal world surrounding the love story. This title is one of a series of books written by Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz that take place on the planet of Harmony. The book is in the third-person narrative and the chapters mostly bounce between the lovers Sedona and Cyrus. The bulk of the book takes place on Rainshadow Island and there is a bit of a learning curve with the background of the planet and its underground tunnels which were created by aliens. Many of the people in the book have special “talents” some of which include reading auras, opening and closing “gates,” and starting fires. The pacing is fairly quick although it is not a slow uphill to the end but several dramatic scenes which come and go before reaching the final dramatic conclusion. Sedona moves to Rainshadow Island after escaping the clutches of an evil scientist who had been using her for his experiments. Cyrus arrives on the island to oversee the management of the newly established Rainshadow Ghosthunters Guild which involves the alien tunnels. From their initial meeting, sparks fly between Cyrus and Sedona, and he immediately begins protecting Sedona from Dr. Blakenship’s efforts to recapture Sedona. Sedona and Cyrus have several adventures together before the satisfying conclusion.
Title: Slave to Sensation
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling, #1
Main Appeal Factors: jaguar/leopard and wolf shapeshifters, cultural/societal misfit characters, futuristic world, hot and heavy sex scenes
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: A fast-paced, intriguing futuristic story of class conflict and forbidden love. The heroine, Sascha, has to hide her true self from everyone – even her own mother – because she is of the Psy class. The Psy are humans who have had emotions and sensations (especially sexual desire) bred out of them. Controlling/hiding her passions becomes almost impossible when Sascha is directed to work with Lucas, a sexy human/jaguar leader of the changelings, on a groundbreaking Psy/Changeling business partnership. Lucas has always hated and distrusted the Psy, but finds himself strangely drawn to Sascha, who seems different to his animal senses from other Psy. Much as they both struggle against their rising passions, their forbidden love cannot be stopped…even as they race against time to catch a serial killer suspected of being protected by the Psy before Sascha’s betrayal of her people is discovered and punished by slow torture and death.
Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Georgina Kincaid, #1
Main Appeal Factors: strong, clever and beautiful heroine; fast paced; forbidden romance
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: This book was way more of a mix of genres than a straight romance. I’d consider this more of an urban fantasy and mystery than romance. The book was in first person and, while the ending was happy, it left things with the hero open ending. The readers weren’t sure if they would continue to have a happy ending into the next book. (This is the first book in a six-part series.) I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers who think they may be into a bit of sauciness. Also, if you think your reader may be up for more twists and turns than an ordinary, paint by numbers story, then this book is a good choice.
Title: The Unseen
Author: Heather Graham
Series: Krewe of Hunters, #5
Main Appeal Factors: romance, some characters have power to speak to the dead, fast paced
Romance Subgenre: Paranormal
Annotation/Thoughts: Kelsey O’Brien a US Marshal in Florida is sent to San Antonio, Texas to join a special law enforcement unit. This unit is comprised of people who can “see” the dead. When Kelsey meets Logan Raintree a Texas Ranger who is part of the task force, the attraction is powerful. Logan and Kelsey quickly become partner and try to solve a string of murders in San Antonio. Kelsey is beautiful and a competent US Marshal. Logan is grieving over the death of his wife who died because Logan did not get to her in time. His wife was buried alive by a relative of a man that Logan had put in jail. Even with his powers, Logan could not save his wife. Logan has feelings for Kelsey. They keep the romance hidden from their co-workers. There is a happy ending.
MLS Readers’ Advisory LibGuide has links to RA-related webinars such as Genre Overviews:
Reader's Advisory Roundtable -- Genre Study Southeastern MA (SE-RART) 