*This title will be released on June 5, 2012*

Title: Hex Appeal Author: Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Carole Nelson Douglas, P. N. Elrod, Simon R. Green, Lori Handeland, Erica Hayes, Carrier Vaughn Series: See below Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: LibraryThing ER Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (June 5, 2012) ISBN-10: 0312590725 ISBN-13: 978-0312590727   Sexual Content: See each title below Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

---

*Cover Art may not be final*

Click author names to visit their webpages & click titles to pre-order from The Book Depository or Goodreads if it isn’t available for pre-order. 

Sirensong by Jenna Black

Series: Faeriewalker #3 Date/Publisher: July 5th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Jenna Black via Twitter Author Comments: Since I see it's up on Amazon & therefore it's OK for me to go public, here's the cover for SIRENSONG.http://yfrog.com/h8cb5cj My Thoughts: My least favorite of the three.  The full face is a little too stereotypically YA and the colors are to vibrant. SHADOWSPELL was so killer but I don’t love this follow-up.  Still totally want to read it though.

Description:

Previous Book in the Series:

Kindling the Moon by Jenn Bennett

Series: Arcadia Bell #1 Date/Publisher: June 28th 2011 by Pocket Cover Artist: Tony Mauro  Cover Source: Book Chick City Author Comments: Ta-da! It’s Arcadia standing in front of her bar, Tambuku Tiki Lounge. Everything is just so damn right about it! Pocket Books: I totally heart you. I also heart Tony Mauro, who is the talented cover artist. I’m in heaven. My Thoughts: Very cool.  Tony Mauro always does great work, but his equal emphasis on both the girl and the setting is just perfect for an UF cover.

Description:

MEET ARCADIA BELL: BARTENDER, RENEGADE
MAGICIAN, FUGITIVE FROM THE LAW. . . .

Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn’t easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia “Cady” Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she’s carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.

But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can’t clear her family name soon, she’ll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.

Previous Book in the Series:

N/A

Darkness Unbound by Keri Arthur

Series: Dark Angel #1 Date/Publisher: October 2011 by Piatkus Books Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Keri Arthur Author Comments: Here's the UK cover for Darkness Unbound, the first of the Dark Angels novels. I love it My Thoughts: FYI, this is the UK version not the US version, but it’s showing up everywhere so… Well, her arms are crossed and there is a motorcycle in the background…if only there was some way we could find out if she’s tough or not…Meh, I’m holding out for the US version.

Description:

Risa Jones is as extraordinary as her heritage. Born from a lab-enhanced clone mother and an Aedh father, she can not only talk to the souls of the dying and the dead, but she can see the reapers and walk the gray fields that divide this world from the next.

They are skill she rarely uses, however, preferring to concentrate on the business she shares with her two best friends. But when her mother asks her to help the parents of a little girl locked in a coma, she reluctantly agrees. What she discovers scares the hell out of her. Because the little girl’s soul no longer resides in her body, and it wasn’t death and the reapers that took her.

Someone had ripped her soul from her flesh.

As it turns out, a creature consuming the souls of the innocent–and not so innocent–is the least of her problems.

Because someone wants to rip open the gates that divided hell from earth, and Risa is a key component in their plans.

And the only person standing between her and disaster is a reaper who isn’t exactly on her side.

Previous Book in the Series:

N/A

Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Series: Shadow Falls #2 Date/Publisher: October 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: C.C. Hunter Author Comments: I got my first glimpse of Awake At Dawn’s cover.  Amazingly, they depicted the scene where Kylie first saw the falls.  I love it. My Thoughts: Really pretty.  I like how this series is giving such an emphasis on one basic feature, first the tree and now the falls.  A really nice distinctive look for these books.

Description:

N/A

NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER Visit Goodreads page

Previous Book in the Series:

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Series: Lorien Legacies #2 Date/Publisher: August 23rd 2011 by HarperCollins Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source:  Imperial Beach Teen Blog Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Yes, technically not paranormal, but alien powers and magic are a lot alike.  As for the cover, the colors are a bit harsh.

Description:

Second edition in the Lorien Legacies, a YA alien series.
“I can feel it in my bones that he is one of us. And I know somehow, that I must find him.”

Previous Book in the Series:

Dark Heart Rising by Lee Monroe

Series: Dark Heart Forever #2 Date/Publisher: June 2nd 2011 by Hodder Children's Books Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Love Fantasy Sci-Fi Novels Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Wow are these covers gorgeous…the muted colors, the way he’s holding her...  Has anyone read the first book?

Description:

Jane and Luca’s story continues ... but not quite as they had planned. When challenges and threats from the immortal world of Nissilum rip the young lovers apart, Jane is bereft. Without Luca’s dancing green eyes, and gentle smile, Jane feels lost, sad and alone. But then a trip to Paris with her grandmother thrusts her in the path of the amiable Soren - a kindred spirit who may be just the distraction she needs ... Meanwhile in Nissilum, Luca struggles with the loyalties and expectations that come with being a part of the immortal world. A world that is about to be shaken at its very core: rumblings of mounting unrest are spreading, and with rumours of an angel rebellion growing no creature is safe – especially not a mortal girl who has fallen in love with a wolf boy...

Previous Book in the Series:

Crave the Moon by Lori Handeland

Series: Nightcreatures #11 Date/Publisher: June 28th 2011 by St. Martin's Paperbacks Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Escape Between The Pages Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Standard romance guy meets Lolita farmer Barbie.

Description:

Hunger and desire can lead to a dangerous place
THE ENEMY
Gina O’Neill will do anything to hold on to her beloved ranch that has been in her family for generations. Enter Mateo Mecate, an archeologist whose greatest wish is to dig there. Prepared to despise Matt—and to thwart his agenda—Gina cannot deny the shocking desire she feels for him.
THE PASSION
Matt believes that the Nahua Springs Ranch holds an important key to Aztec history—one that will restore his standing in the archeological community. But he never expects to go head-to-head with the maddeningly sensuous owner, Gina. The ranch seems to have cast a spell on them both...
THE WAR
When Gina and Matt delve into the secrets of this ancient place, they awaken something unspeakably evil—a shapeshifter who is centuries old. A werewolf with vengeance on its mind. A sorcerer of incredible power. Can Gina and Matt defeat this enemy—even as their conflicts deepen…and their attraction grows more dangerous?

Previous Book in the Series:

And my picks for Best & Worst…

Best Cover	Worst Cover

So any new to you covers? Which are your Best & Worst picks?

Look what was in my email box today…the new cover for Chaos Bleeds!  Its not too big, but very cool.

Just in . . . the cover of CHAOS BITES—the fourth installment of The Phoenix Chronicles—coming May 2010. Visit LoriHandeland.com for more information.

Though Liz Phoenix won the last battle, she's losing the supernatural war and chaos is the result. On the road again, this time with a teenager and a baby that was dropped on her doorstep, Liz is in desperate need of help. She goes to former lover Jimmy Sanducci and together they work to make things right.

Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 1) 
by Lori Handeland

Book Blurb: Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department’s fight against injustice. But when Liz’s foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci? While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz’s eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril.

Review: Ugh! This book is basically an excuse to string along one sex break after another.
The main character has to have sex (no less than 6 times) with a skinwalker(aka shapeshifter) in order to awaken her supernatural gifts. Then she is told that the only way she can acquire new abilities is to have sex with other supernatural beings.
*SPOILER* The coup de gras of the whole book takes place when the main character is abducted by her ex-boyfriend (who is conveniently evil now) and forced to be his sex/blood slave. Our heroine see this as an opportunity to bring him back to the light with her body. The result: lots and lots and lots of sex. *END OF SPOILER* What really bothers me is how misleading this book was.  The description does not in any indicate the overwhelmingly erotic nature of this book. I'm so glad I didn't spend money on this book (it was an LibraryThing Early Review). I blame the publishers for this one.  There are readers for erotic fiction (I am not one of them), and there are readers who prefer actual plots in their books (Yo!).  It is up to the publisher to ensure that the description/blurb etc. accurately reflects what the author wrote so that the intended audience can find said book.  Otherwise they end up with reviews like mine.

Sexual Content:

Makes Anita Blake look chaste.