Summer Reading Suggestions

I can’t believe summer is upon us. Thankfully, we’ll have lots to read while we hang in the air conditioning. I can’t believe all the great books rolling out over the next few months.

Here’s a short list of what’s ahead:

I "heart" Rachel Caine. Her fourth book in the Morganville Vampire series is called Feast of Fools. Claire Danvers has lot more to worry about than matriculation -- including enemies who are allergic to daylight and have a distressing taste for blood. The town is run by vampires and Claire and her housemates Eve, Michael and Shane, find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between the vamps who want to coexist with humanity and the really scary ones who don’t. "I was hesitant to do a story with vampires for the young adult market, especially post the ‘Twilight’ phenomenon," says Caine. "But the idea of Morganville itself seemed really interesting to me. I wanted to bring something new to the genre, so there are lots of twists and turns in Morganville’s story -- and only some of them are the fault of the vampires.

Talk about a great cause. The Power of Love is a romantic anthology, and the proceeds benefit the Hamilton County (Ohio) YWCA Bettered Women’s Shelter. In all 12 authors, including Patricia Sargeant, Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy, Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Karen Kelley, Rosemary Laurey, Janice Maynard, LuAnn McLane, Lucy Monroe, Kay Stockham and J.C. Wilder, participated. The authors and agents involved also donated their advances and royalties to the cause. "With the way the publishing industry works," says Sargeant, "this anthology will be the gift that keeps on giving."

The Trouble with Moonlight by Donna MacMeans sounds right up my alley. In the midst of a moonlit safe-cracking mission, British spy James Locke witnesses a ruby necklace spirited away as if by conjurer's trick. Following the jewels leads him to Lusinda Havershaw, who's inherited the talent of turning invisible in moonlight -- at least, the parts of her that are unclothed. Locke trains Lusinda in espionage, even while he finds her close proximity bewitchingly distracting.

Alyson Noel's new release Cruel Summer is about a young woman who has undergone a major transformation. She’s shed her nerdy image and she’s looking forward to summer parties and possible hook-ups with her favorite hunk. Unfortunately, her plans go awry when her parents send her away to Greece to stay with her crazy aunt. The young girl is stranded on an island with no malls, no cell phone reception and an aunt who talks to plants. When she meets a handsome stranger, she decides maybe the island isn’t so bad after all, and the life she left behind isn’t at all what she really wanted.

On the other end of the spectrum is The Art of Desire by Cherie Feather. This is one sexy book. "I used to get censored by my editors because my love scenes were too graphic," says Feather. "When the erotica subgenre exploded, it seemed inevitable that I become a part of it. The Art of Desire is my first really, really sexy book. No censorship. No holds barred. But in spite of the sensuality, I wanted it to be highly romantic and deeply emotional, too."

Karin Tabke has a new historical, Master of Surrender, out this month. It’s the first in her new Blood Sword Legacy series. Bound by a brotherhood forged in the hell of a Saracen prison, eight Blood Swords--mercenary knights for William the Conqueror--set out to claim their legacies the only way they can: by right of arms, by right of victory, by rite of conquest.

The idea for Linda Warren's new release Always A Mother came to her from a conversation she overheard in a beauty shop. "The stylist was telling another client about a friend who was 40 and pregnant," says Warren. "The woman had grown children and was returning to college. She packed a bag and left and everyone was worried about where she’d gone. Now you can read my take on that snippet of gossip."

Until next month...Candy

Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist, who has interviewed just about every celebrity there is in Hollywood and written thousands of articles. She is the author of the Charmed & Dangerous series including Charmed & Ready Charmed & Dangerous and Charmed & Deadly. Her latest book Like A Charm" is available now!

Her non-fiction prose includes Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy, and essays in Alias Assumed: Sex, Lies and SD-6, and Five Seasons of Angel. She's also the entertainment critic providing the latest on TV, film and celebs for the radio station 96.3 KSCS. And she's the managing editor for FYI Television.

You can visit Candy daily at her blog or her website