Some Treats Not To Miss in June!

My personal reading this past month included Jayne Ann Krentz’s SIZZLE AND BURN (Putnam hardcover, 1/08), a modern-day tale about the Arcane Society. With complex and intriguing characters, as well as a great storyline, this paranormal novel was a compelling read that I could not put down. Great escapism from the everyday life.

Nancy J. Cohen, who writes the Bad Hair Day mystery series featuring South Florida beauty salon owner and hairstylist Marla Shore, is putting her heroine on hiatus while she spreads her creative wings. As Nancy tells readers, "Before I turned my attention to mysteries, I began my writing career with futuristic romances written as Nancy Cane. Recently, I felt a strong calling to write another one, and so I did. The experience was extremely liberating; I had a great time engaging my characters in a wild space adventure. Even though it meant Marla had to take another vacation after her cruise, I was glad to give voice to Silver and Jace. They demanded their own story and are now waiting to share it with many of you. Currently, I’m working on an urban fantasy. It’s a challenging genre, but I enjoy the freedom of letting my imagination carry me to new places." I’ll let you know when there’s a title and pub date for this new book.

In case you missed it, Toni McGee Causey’s second uproarious and fast-paced novel, BOBBIE FAYE’S (KINDA, SORTA, NOT EXACTLY) FAMILY JEWELS (St. Martin’s trade paper) featuring the feisty half-Cajun Bobbie Faye Sumrall, went on sale May 27, 2008. Bobbie Faye is on the run after being accused of murder. She also has to recover some valuable gems for her cousin, while dodging her ex-boyfriend and dealing with a sexy undercover FBI agent. Things are never easy for Bobbie Faye. Toni is currently finishing up the third book in this zany series, so we can look forward to more fun adventures for the delightful Bobbie Faye.

June 3, 2008, promises to be a big day for some exciting releases:

• Patti O’Shea continues her Light Warriors paranormal romance series with IN TWILIGHT’S SHADOW (Tor). Maia Frasier thought she was finished with the dangerous world of troubleshooters and demons after renouncing her magical powers. But she’s drawn back in when wounded enforcer Creed Blackwood shows up in her home claiming that Maia’s sister is in danger. Hiding the fact he’s having blackouts and his powers are becoming unpredictable, Creed pressures Maia into helping him hunt for the demon he’s chasing.

• J. R. Ward gives us the sixth book in her electrifying paranormal Black Dagger Brotherhood series about an undercover group of vampire warriors fighting against a group of humans who’ve been transformed into a race of immortal vampire hunters. LOVER ENSHRINED (Signet) tells the story of Phury, Zsadist’s twin and Primale of the Chosen, who’s become the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood’s bloodlines alive.

• Vicki Lewis Thompson’s
  
  Vicki Lewis Thompson
  WILD & HEXY (Onyx) is the second installment in her contemporary paranormal romance series featuring Dorcas and Ambrose Lowell, former matchmakers for witches and wizards who now ply their trade for humans in Big Knob, Indiana. This time, they are set on pairing up former Dairy Queen Annie Winston and shy computer whiz Jeremy Dunstan -- with some very amusing results.

• Patricia Smiley’s newest Tucker Sinclair mystery, COOL CACHE (Obsidian hardcover), finds the hired consultant working for a chocolate shop owner to help her business flourish. However, when Tucker finds the shop’s cleaning lady dead in the back room, she’s again involved in solving a puzzling murder.

• Gerry Bartlett serves up a third helping of hilarious adventures for 400-year-old vampire Glory St. Clair in REAL VAMPIRES GET LUCKY (Berkley trade paper). This time around, the sassy Glory is not only struggling with weight problems and her sexy vampire sometime-lover, she’s having to deal with a mobster’s daughter she had to save by turning her into a vampire. Ah yes, all the usual travails of a vampire’s life -- at least for Glory, anyway.

Jill Marie Landis was excited to share with us her publication news. "This June and July, I have two new books hitting the stores. The first is an anthology for Harlequin entitled DESTINATION: MARRIAGE. The collection contains three destination wedding stories about three different brides. Naturally, my heroine in Trouble in Paradise is headed for Kauai and just about anything and everything that can go wrong with her wedding does -- so much so that she’s certain the island is trying to warn her not to get married at all. That will be on sale around June 10, 2008. The second release is my first Western Historical Inspirational mass market single title for Steeple Hill, entitled HOMECOMING (on sale July 1, 2008). The story is set in Texas in the 1870s during the Comanche Wars and is reminiscent of SUNFLOWER and SUMMER MOON." Jill is hoping readers will find all the elements they say they love about her other books in these new novels -- unforgettable characters, page-turning plots and lots of emotion.

Jude Deveraux revisits the special house where the past comes alive and dreams come true, which was originally featured in THE SUMMERHOUSE (Pocket, 5/02). In her newest time-travel novel, RETURN TO SUMMERHOUSE (Pocket), which goes on sale June 17, 2008, the mysterious Madame Zoya and her sister offer to rewrite the past of three women by transporting them to 18th- century England. Will going back in time really bring about the happiness they seek?

June 24, 2008, is the release date for UNDEAD AND UNWORTHY (Berkley hardcover), the seventh book in MaryJanice Davidson’s highly amusing series featuring Betsy Taylor. Betsy is still ruling the nights as Vampire Queen and looking to find a way to survive the days as a suburban bride. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. It seems her husband has been scrutinizing The Book of the Dead, while she’s being pursued by an intolerable ghost, and then a pack of formerly feral vampires decides to pay a visit.

On sale June 24, 2008, is the first book in Marjorie M. Liu's intriguing new Hunter Kiss urban fantasy series, THE IRON HUNT (Ace). As Marjorie explains the premise, "Demon hunter Maxine Kiss wears her armor as tattoos, which unwind from her body to take on forms of their own at night. They stand between her and her enemies, just as Maxine stands between humanity and the demons breaking out from behind the prison veils. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment -- and one man -- changes everything." Marjorie’s short story, Minotaur in Stone, will appear in the 13-author paranormal erotica anthology HOTTER THAN HELL (Harper), which also goes on sale June 24, 2008.

As always, stay tuned... Tanzey