I sometimes have a hard time objectively evaluating cover reveals for beloved series (how can you untangle the adrenaline of a new book coming out from the cover itself?).  This week I didn’t give many thumbs down, but my affection for the Sookie Stackhouse series as a whole couldn’t overcome the unfortunate scene depicted on book #12.  To balance that disappointment, however,there was a rare “bare chest with floating animal” cover that actually got a thumbs up. Enjoy!

*This title will be released on September 13, 2011*

Title: Drink Slay Love Author: Sarah Beth Durst Series: Standalone Cover Art: Evan Schwartz and Jessica Handelman Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (September 13, 2011) ISBN-10: 1442423730 ISBN-13: 978-1442423732 Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Review

DRINK SLAY LOVE is ridiculously fun.  I expected the ridiculous part based on the description (vampire slaying unicorns!), but I was I was not prepared for the witty, sly, and smart characters, dialog, and story. 

I think I’ve been hoodwinked.  How did I miss the fact that unicorns are the perfect vampire hunters?  Think about it.  What kills vampires?  Stakes through the heart.  What do unicorns have? Giant stakes growing out of their heads.  Of course now I’m looking at narwhales in a completely different way too, but that’s not relevant.  Still, the whole unicorn vs vampire makes a strange kind of sense, doesn’t it? 

What also makes a strange kind of sense is Pearl, who was great fun as a character.  Her initial response to humans was very arrogant and dismissive (reminded me a bit like Illyria from Angel, but with a strong sense of humor).  She doesn’t bat an eye when her dad brings home dinner in the form of a bellhop trussed up on the dinning room table.  But what I loved even more was that she wasn’t evil.  She didn’t laugh at human fear, she just didn’t even notice it.  Like all vampires, she viewed humans in the way we would cattle, a pat on the head and they’re off to the butcher.  No big deal.  And tasty with ketchup. 

When she ends up in high school, she just got better.  Everything she said was dripping with irony and superiority.  And the other students were just as fun.  No throw away or flat characters.  There were plenty of surprises too that kept me on my toes and just made the story even better.

DRINK SLAY LOVE has a sense of humor about itself that never once flagged.  It’s full of snappy dialogue that was genuinely clever and funny, a storyline that was wacky but completely enjoyable, and a believable sweet romance.  I had a blast reading this book.

 

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Nice Girls Read Books –3/5 .bibliophile. .anonymous. – 4/5 Ex Libris – N/A

*Cover Art may not be final*
Click author names to visit their webpages  and the book’s title to pre-order from The Book Depository or Goodreads if it isn’t available for pre-order.

Shadowman by Erin Kellison

Series: Shadow #3 Date/Publisher: September 2011 by Kensington Books Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Erin Kellison on Dark Central Station Author Comments:  “…I received my cover for my September 2011 release, Shadowman!  It’s the third in my Shadow series, though each book was written to stand alone. The first two books, Shadow Bound and Shadow Fall, were released through Dorchester Publishing and will be rereleased through them in trade paperback in August and September.”   My Thoughts: I like the heat of flowers from the bottom meeting the cool birches in the background, it draws the eye so powerfully to the cover model right in between.

Description:

GHOSTS
They haunt the halls of the Segue Institute, terrifying the living, refusing to cross over.  But one soul is driven by a very different force.

LOVE
It survives even death.  And Kathleen O’Brien swore she would return to those she was forced to leave too soon.

SHADOWMAN
He broke every rule to have her in life; now he will defy the angels to find her in death.

THE GATE
Forging it is his single hope of being reunited with his beloved, but through it an abomination enters the world.  Leaving a trail of blood and violence, the devil hunts her too.  Pursued through realms of bright fantasy and dark reality, Kathleen is about to be taken. . .

Previous Book in the Series:

As You Wish by Gabi Stevens

Series: Time of Transition #2 Date/Publisher: April 2011 by Tor Books Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Author’s blog Author Comments:  “Big, long, awe-filled sigh.” My Thoughts: While bare skin, tattoos and claw marks aren’t unusual on UF covers, I like how this one is done.  The cover model has a hint of androgyny about him, setting him apart from the pack.

Description:

Regina Scott, known as Reggie, has made a successful life for herself despite her lack of magical powers. She is content to live out her life as a Groundling until the outgoing fairy godmothers tell her she’s the second new replacement. In the space of a few days, she faces a curse, a plot to overthrow the Arcani world, and an entirely too enthusiastic mother. And she doesn’t know which will be the most difficult to deal with. Can Reggie balance trust, magic, and danger and still find the happiness she deserves?

Previous Book in the Series:

Wilder’s Mate by Moira Rogers

Series: Bloodhounds #1 Date/Publisher: March 1, 2011 by Samhain Publishing Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Fiction Vixen Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Love it, love it, love it!  The color palette and duster hint at Old West, and the gears worked into the series motif (and the background) give subtle steam-punk hints.  Can’t wait for this one.

Description:
Wilder Harding is a bloodhound, created by the Guild to hunt down and kill vampires on America's frontier. His enhanced abilities come with a high price: on the full moon, he becomes capable of savagery beyond telling, while the new moon brings a sexual hunger that borders on madness.

Rescuing a weapons inventor from undead kidnappers is just another assignment, though one with an added complication--keeping his hands off the man's pretty young apprentice, who insists on tagging along.

At odds with polite society, Satira's only constant has been the aging weapons inventor who treats her like a daughter. She isn't going to trust Wilder with Nathaniel's life, not when the Guild might decide the old man isn't worth saving. Besides, if there's one thing she's learned, it's that brains are more important than brawn.

As the search stretches far longer than Wilder planned, he finds himself fighting against time. If Satira is still at his side when the new moon comes, nothing will stop him from claiming her. Worse, she seems all too willing. If their passion unlocks the beast inside, no one will be safe. Not even the man they're fighting to save.

Warning: This book contains a crude, gun-slinging, vampire-hunting hero who howls at the full moon and a smart, stubborn heroine who invents mad-scientist weapons. Also included: wild frontier adventures, brothels, danger, betrayal and a good dose of wicked loving in an alternate Wild West.

 

Previous Book in the Series:

N/A

Bloodborn by Karen Kincy

Series: Other #2 Date/Publisher: September 2011 by Flux Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Kate at The Neverending Shelf Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: There’s something very Gothic in this composition, making Brock’s eyes and the moon in the background all the more powerful.  Another beautiful cover for this series.

Description:
It isn’t working. The doctor said it would, but it isn’t, even though I keep taking the pills, and I keep seeing Dad sneak into the bathroom and count how many are left. As if I would stop taking them. As if I would let myself become a beast.

Brock Koeman lost his brother to werewolves. Now he’s in danger of losing himself. Bitten by a werewolf at sixteen, he fights the transformation, taking the excruciating pain as a punishment for his mistakes. With the help of a risky drug called Lycanthrox, he’s managed to stay human for two full moons. But he knows he can’t last much longer.

Hungry for revenge, Brock vows to kill the silver wolf who bit him. But Brock’s ex, the fiery Cynthia Lopez, still cares about him enough not to let him do anything suicidally dangerous—never mind that Cyn gets her thrills from danger herself. Together again, the heat between them rekindles, but Brock feels like a beast beside her beauty. He can’t stay with her; he can’t ignore the werewolves howling outside his window. When he hunts down the pack, Cyn doesn’t sit on the sidelines. She’s right beside him as they get taken hostage and start running with the werewolves, the police hot on their tails. Brock has to get a grip on who he truly is—before the wolf within kills him, or someone else does.

 

Previous Book in the Series:

The Monster’s Corner by Christopher Golden

Series: Anthology Date/Publisher: October 2011 by St. Martin’s Press Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Mihai at Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Utterly gruesome, the way the figures on the cover are arranged hints at both wings and further horrors.  Given the subject matter, very well done.

Description:

- “The Awkward Age” by David Liss

- “Saint John” by Jonathan Maberry

- “Rue” by Lauren Groff

- “Succumb” by John McIlveen

- “Torn Stitches, Shattered Glass” by Kevin J. Anderson

- “Rattler and the Mothman” by Sharyn McCrumb

- “Big Man” by David Moody

- “Rakshasi” by Kelley Armstrong

- “Breeding the Demons” by Nate Kenyon

- “Siren Song” by Dana Stabenow

- “Less of a Girl” by Chelsea Cain

- “The Cruel Thief of Rosy Infants” by Tom Piccirilli

- “The Screaming Room” by Sarah Pinborough

- “Wicked Be” by Heather Graham

- “Specimen 313” by Jeff Strand

- “The Lake” by Tananarive Due

- “The Other One” by Michael Marshall Smith

- “And You Still Wonder Why Our First Impulse is to Kill You: An Alphabetized Faux-Manifesto transcribed, edited, and annotated (under duress and protest)” by Gary A. Braunbeck

- “Jesus and Satan Go Jogging in the Desert” by Simon R. Green

 

Previous Anthologies edited by Christopher Golden:

Rush of Darkness
by Rhyannon Byrd

Series: Primal Instinct #7 Date/Publisher: April 2011 by HQN Books Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Kaleigha at Wicked Scribes Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: Wow.  The male cover model totally steals the show on this one, I’m going to start reading this series just for the expression on his face and the placement of his hand.

Description:
Raine Spenser is on the brink. Held prisoner because of her abilities, Raine—a powerful psychic as well as vampire desperately needed a savior. But the last one she expected was the green-eyed soldier who’d once hunted her kind. Since her rescue, she’s tried to forget Seth McConnell, unable to cope with the strange, simmering attraction that draws her to the compelling human.

But their goals—find the Kraven who held Raine captive and destroy him—are the same. The ever-growing web of danger surrounding them draws these two unlikely allies closer together, and anger slowly turns into an explosive passion they’re finding harder and harder to deny....

Previous Book in the Series:

Drink, Slay, Love
by Sarah Beth Durst

Series: N/A Date/Publisher: September 13th, 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Author’s Blog Author Comments: "I am deliriously in love with it [the cover art], and I can't wait to share it with you. So without further ado... (Please pat your hands on your lap so we have drum roll sound effects. Also, imagine a red velvet curtain raising up. And maybe a few trumpets.) ... the cover art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!” My Thoughts: I totally agree with her on this one, beautiful cover art.  Now whether or not that’s enough to get me past the association with EAT, PRAY, LOVE, I really can’t say…

Description:
What happens when a vampire is stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn? She suddenly develops a very inconvenient conscience. Oops.

Previous Book in the Series:

N/A

Shadow Walker by Allyson James

Series: Stormwalker #3 Date/Publisher: June 2011 by Berkley Sensation Cover Artist: N/A Cover Source: Kaleigha at Wicked Scribes Author Comments: N/A My Thoughts: From the expression on the cover model’s face, I would have expected a different finger to be in the air.  I love the sass they’ve managed to put into this cover.

Description:
Racing her motorcycle down a lonely winter highway, Stormwalker Janet Begay feels the ground collapse beneath her feet. After tumbling two hundred feet into an underground cavern, she manages to escape with help from her sexy dragon-shifter boyfriend, Mick—but not before they disturb some dark forces.

As Janet contends with a hotel inspector intent on putting her out of business, as well as her grandmother, who’s taken up residence, Mick’s behavior becomes strange and erratic, until he is a clear danger to Janet and her friends. Janet’s drag-queen, attitude-ridden magic mirror insists that Mick has been “touched by shadows,” and the Stormwalker realizes that someone is out to enslave her dragon. Now she must free Mick before he kills her…

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?