Readers of the previous Castle of the Dark Dreams books will know what to expect, but newcomers may find it hard to take this instalment seriously, as it features vampires and demons inhabiting fantasyland theme parks. But that's okay, as these books don't take themselves too seriously either. Once you get used to the idea that these otherworldly beings are hiding in plain sight and charging normal people for the privilege of experiencing what they think paranormal should be about, you can see the potential for fun and action.

WICKED MEMORIES starts with a grudge between Sparkle Stardust who runs the Castle of Dark Dreams and her competition, Thorn McKenzie who owns Nirvana. Sparkle likes to allow clients to live out their fantasies in role- play, but Thorn just offers rides, amusements - and an ugly parking garage. Thorn persuades three employees of Sparkle's to come and work for him instead; a vampire, a demon and a sorcerer. While Thorn is a vampire, he tries to not use vampire persuasive powers as he's found that they are addictive - but to beat Sparkle he's made an exception. Furious, Sparkle sees to it that a kiosk in his park explodes. Game on!

The interesting location in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico adds variety to shape-shifting beings, with two whale- shifters joining the fray, and other creatures at home in water. What with a telepathic cat and a few witches, life is certainly not dull around these theme parks. Sparkle has hired a human lawyer in the hope that this girl will be able to spy on her rival unnoticed in amongst all the regular people, but poor Kayla is far from happy with the situation. That's until she realises that she's attracted to Thorn, who can't really be a thousand-year-old vampire, can he? And all the commotion gains the attention of Aegir, a sea god, which is far from a good thing.

Nina Bangs has created a location and characters with a lot of potential, so any reader enjoying WICKED MEMORIES can go back and read the six previous ones, starting with Wicked Nights.