Title: The Nightmare Garden Author:  Caitlin Kittredge Series: Iron Codex #2 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Julia Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; February 14, 2012 ISBN-10: 0385738315 ISBN-13: 978-0385738316   Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Title: Keeping it Real Author: Justina Robson Series: Quantum Gravity #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 337 pages Publisher: Pyr; March 14, 2007 ISBN-10: 1591025397 ISBN-13: 978-1591025399 Sexual Content: Sex scenes and references to sex . Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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*This title will be released on September 6, 2011*

Title: Stone Cold Seduction Author: Jess Macallan Series: Set in Stone #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 246 pages Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC; September 6, 2011 ISBN-10: 1937044254 ISBN-13: 978-1937044251 Sexual Content: Several sex scenes. Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Title: Down to the Bone Author: Justina Robson Series: Quantum Gravity #5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: No Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 385 pages Publisher: Pyr; Original edition (August 23, 2011) ISBN-10: 1616143797 ISBN-13: 978-1616143794 Sexual Content: Several sex scenes, references to threesomes. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

Lila Black faces her greatest challenge yet as she takes herself, her dead lover, and the AI
in her head into death's realm ...

Lila Black is now a shape-shifting machine plugged into the Signal—the total dataset of all events in the known universe and all potential events: Zal, the elf rock star with a demon soul, is now a shadow form animated and given material actualization by firelight; Teazle the demon has taken up the swords of Death and is on the way to becoming an angel. To say this puts some pressure on their three-way marriage is an understatement.

Meanwhile the human world is seeing an inexplicable influx of the returning dead, and they're not the only ones. Many old evils are returning to haunt the living following three harbingers of destruction created in the ancient past.

What seems epic is revealed as personal to all concerned as events unfold and that which cannot be escaped must be faced. Heroic destinies unravel as greater powers reveal themselves the true masters of the game.

Review

What a long, strange trip it has been... with flashes of humor, convulsing and convoluted mythology, treachery and loyalty twisting back on each other like snakes, and at long last, some measure of peace for a world that has lost none of its strangeness but just a bit of its peril. Robson does a good job bringing readers up to speed at the start of DOWN TO THE BONE (with prophetic, faerie beer, of all things), but even with the bare bones of the conflict laid out, I can't say if new readers would be able to catch up to the complex emotional lives of these characters without starting at the beginning. 

So much of what brings Lila, Teazle and Zal and their support crew to this end of days is as slippery and inevitable as a maelstrom, sucking everyone down and together into a cataclysmic confrontation. As changeable as these characters are, there are intimate moments of humor and pathos that completely won me over.  Robson does a wonderful job interweaving the trickery of  her paranormal creatures into the story without tipping over into "arbitrary”.  I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book with so much complexity and forgiveness worked in to the plot, in the most interesting and believable way.  DOWN TO THE BONE brings all of the surface stories together, creating a satisfying resolution to the adventure portion of the story, even as I know I will still be piecing together the mythology of these worlds in the future.

KEEPING IT REAL and DOWN TO THE BONE have the benefit of bracketing this almost overwhelming series,  and I think they would remain my favorites for the clear introduction and resolution each has to offer. Upon finishing the Quantum Gravity series I feel a little dazed and completely wrung out, but definitely glad I followed this roller coaster from start to finish.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Keeping it Real – 5/5 Selling Out Going Under Chasing the Dragon	Cybermage – N/A  Gamer’s Ramblings – 10/10 Harriet Klausner – N/A

*This title will be released on February 22, 2011*

Title: Pale Demon Author: Kim Harrison Series: Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #9 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: NetGalley Reviewed by: Julia Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Harper Voyager (Feb 22, 2011) ISBN-10: 0061138061 ISBN-13: 978-0061138065 Sexual Content: Attempted rape, allusions to rape, and some sexual scenes. My Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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Description

Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.
 
Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passenger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.
 
A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

Review

In anticipation of the release of PALE DEMON, I re-read BLACK MAGIC SANCTION to tide me over.  My strategy more or less backfired, as the passion, grief, and action had me even more anxious to read the next Hollows novel, but luckily, PALE DEMON did not disappoint.  Despite the drama at the end of BLACK MAGIC SANCTION, PALE DEMON begins in an innocuous calm before the storm.  It took the series in a direction I would not have anticipated, and, predictably, ends with me out of my mind excited for the next book in the series.

One of Kim Harrison’s strengths is creating fascinating characters, and even her supporting characters have a depth that is unique in any genre.  While this is one aspect of her books I adore, I’m sure this can also be a trial as she has to manage an ever-growing list of complex relationships and individuals (Lee went from being Rachel’s nemesis to Al’s familiar to being married and rescuing Rachel from rogue coven members, who can keep track of this stuff?!).  This cast of thousands, in combination with Harrison’s organic interweaving of plot lines, means I can never guess what to expect in one of her novels, or who will show up.  PALE DEMON deepened my appreciation for existing characters while introducing a few new ones that I will be excited to see again in the future.

Of the old, familiar characters, Trent Kalamack took center stage and really blew me out of the water.  My appreciation for Trent has always been shallow at best.  Despite Rachel’s attraction to him, and the hints of chemistry between them, he had never clicked for me.  Too controlled, too removed, too devious and untrustworthy.  PALE DEMON forces Rachel and Trent to break down many of the barriers between themselves, and build a partnership in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible.  As a part of this process, for the first time in the series, Trent really began to develop as a potential love interest.  Still, I’m never sure if he’ll be Rachel’s worst enemy, friend, or grade-school crush, and the tension is worse than ever now that I like him more as a person.

In addition to changes in Rachel’s relationship with Trent, Ivy also has a few pivotal scenes.  I know of several people who have drifted away from this series due to Rachel and Ivy’s relationship, though I myself have never understood the issue (Perhaps the tension between them was so reflexively predatory it never set off my radar as something to worry about or work through.  Who can reason with a vampire?).  Either way, while the state of their union didn’t bother me prior to this book, I think that those readers who did struggle with it will be pleased to find some resolution (and I’m interested to hear your reactions).  Of Rachel’s two partners, I have been almost entirely focused on Jenks over the last several books, and I really enjoyed his portion of this book.  There is a tenderness between him and Rachel as they both mourn loved ones that is a pleasure to read, and I enjoyed getting hints of what the next twenty years of Jenks’s life may look like.

The hardest part about reviewing this book is dancing around spoilers when I really can’t wait to dish the nitty gritty details with fellow Hollows fans.  While PALE DEMON hasn’t supplanted WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE and BLACK MAGIC SANCTION as my latest favorites of the series, I’m looking forward to rereading it over and over in the days and months it takes for Book #10 to make an appearance.

Read the first FIVE chapters of PALE DEMON here.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Dead Witch Walking The Good, the Bad, and the Undead Every Which Way but Dead A Fistful of Charms For a Few Demons More The Outlaw Demon Wails White Witch, Black Curse Black Magic Sanction	BP at Bibliopunk Jen at My Book Addiction Natasha at Wicked Lil Pixie