Title: True Colors Author:  Thea Harrison Series: Elder Races #3.5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal Romance Excerpt: Yes Source: Author Reviewed by: Julia Format: eBook Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.; December 13, 2011 ASIN: B006J8QBH8   Sexual Content: Sex scenes. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Title: Shadow Touch Author: Erin Kellison Series: Shadow 2.5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: No Source: Author Reviewed by: Julia Format: ebook File Size: 308 KB Publisher: Zebra Books (June 1, 2011) ISBN 10: 1-4201-2395-5 ISBN 13: 978-142012395-1 Buy from Amazon.com  Sexual Content: Kissing and lewd conduct Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list

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Description

MAGIC

It is bleeding into our world, bringing with it banshees, wraiths, fae from the twisting forests of Twilight. But Ellie’s problem is a very different kind of phenomenon...

SHADOW

It ought to be attached to her; instead it has a life of its own. And her dark mirror image is a wild thing, willfully seducing the very man Ellie hoped could help.

SCIENCE

Cam has devoted his career to exploring the boundaries between this world and the Hereafter. But nothing could prepare him for the mischief and mayhem of a soul split in two.

SURRENDER

Who will give in first:  the man struggling to unite two halves of one fascinating female; the shadow fighting for freedom to experience the thrill of every emotion; or the woman who is about to discover her own deepest desires?

Review

Even a casual survey of dreams reveals how dark and twisty the human psyche  can be, and in SHADOW TOUCH, Erin Kellison puts a new spin on the "went to school naked" nightmare.  Ellie was born without the ability to hide her impulses, her reactions, or even her naked body, as her animated shadow struts along next to her, baring their secrets to the world.

SHADOW TOUCH revealed just enough about Ellie and her shadow to make me eager to seek them out in future books, and also piqued my interest about where the Shadow series began.  This was my first experience with the series, and Kellison gives enough detail to orient and tantalize without bogging down the action.

It is this deft touch that makes SHADOW TOUCH a good read for both established fans and those of us who have been missing out.  By combining the introduction of new characters as well as glimpses of familiar favorites, Kellison has created a novella with a little something for everyone. The next book in the Shadow series is titled SHADOWMAN and will be published on September 6, 2011.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Shadow Bound 4/5 Shadow Fall	Smexy Books a GREAT read Bitten by Books

Title: Hidden by Blood Author: Laurie London Series: Sweetblood #1.5 (novella) Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal Romance Excerpt: Yes Source: Author Reviewed by: Abigail Format: ebook File Size: 194 KB Publisher: HQN Books (June 1, 2011) Available as a FREE download from Harlequin Sexual Content: A semi graphic sex scene Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Description

Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, two vampire coalitions battle for supremacy—Guardians who safeguard humanity and Darkbloods, rogues who will stop at nothing to satisfy their craving for the sweetest of human blood.

Now, former Army Ranger Finn McKentry finds himself imprisoned as a blood slave, forced to submit to an enemy more powerful than any he's encountered before. Only Brenna Stewart, the woman he'd loved and lost, can set him free—but the secret she harbors might lead them down the most dangerous path of all…

"Dark and sinfully sexy."
—New York Times bestselling author Cherry Adair on Bonded by Blood

Review

What’s better than a free read? A free read that happens to be part of a series I called ‘supernatural sex on a stick.’  For a limited time, courtesy of publisher Harlequin, that’s exactly what you get from Laurie London’s Sweetblood novella HIDDEN BY BLOOD.

The basic premise of this series is that a fraction of the population has an irresistibly addictive blood type that vampires crave.   One such sweetblood, Finn is captured and then rescued by his ex Brenna.  We learn about their whirlwind romance (he picked her up in the produce section of the supermarket) through occasional well timed flashbacks that quickly invest the reader in their romance.  After only the first few pages, I was already rooting for them.  While this is a totally standalone read, I enjoyed a couple of cameos from my favorite characters from the first book.

A couple things keep me from enjoying this start as much as the debut, BONDED BY BLOOD.  Some of the writing feels a bit stilted as London is trying to cram enough information about her very appealing Sweetblood world into a 60+ page novella.  Occasionally a character would state a piece of information that would never naturally come up in conversation solely for the benefit of the reader and it pulled me out of the story every time.  Also, a number of details were simply too convenient, but I chalk that up more to length limitations than anything else.

Overall, I loved revisiting this world and the super hot romance that I’m beginning to expect from London.  HIDDEN BY BLOOD has more than whetted my appetite for more Sweetblood books, fortunately I won’t have to wait long since the next book in the series, EMBRACED BY BLOOD, will be published on June 21, 2011.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Bonded by Blood	DemonLover's Books & More!

Book Description:

Four tales of urban fantasy and paranormal romance explore body art that is more than it seems—in a world of magic and mayhem that always leaves it mark . . .

New York Times bestselling author Karen Chance's "Skin Deep" tells the tale of a war mage in Las Vegas who stumbles across an ominous magical ward that appears as a dragon on her skin--and has a mind of its own…

When New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu's demon slayer Maxine Kiss investigates a grisly murder at a high-class soirée, she finds herself involved in a conspiracy dating back to World War II--and a secret mission that her grandmother may have carried out for the US Government, one that involves the mysterious "Armor of Roses."

In USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn's "Etched in Silver," a supernatural agent is on the trail of a sadistic serial killer, when an unexpected ally comes to her aid, setting in motion a magical ritual that may end up binding them together, body and soul.

When the heavily tattooed body of a man is found in a Northern California town, FBI Agent Lily Yu is drawn into the case. Trouble is, the victim wasn't human--and the killer isn't finished in USA Today bestselling author Eileen Wilks's "Human Nature."

*Note* I will be reviewing each story in this anthology in separate posts.

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Review:
Skin Deep by Karen Chance. Karen’s story once again features War Mage/were Lia (who is featured on the cover) and her werewolf love interest Cyrus. If you want to read all of the stories about these characters (and you should because they are fantastic) the reading order would be:

1. Rogue Elements (included in the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology)
2. Vegas Odds (included in the Strange Brew anthology)
3. Skin Deep (included in the Inked anthology). 

Each of these stories can be read alone, but if you can, I recommend reading them all.

Set in the same world as her Cassandra Palmer’s series, in Skin Deep Karen Chance has created two of my favorite urban fantasy characters in Lia and Cyrus.  This time out, Lia is recruited by Sebastian, one of the werewolf clan leaders, to track down his brother/her lover Cyrus who disappeared while hunting a killer who has been skinning werewolves alive.  Like all the stories in this anthology, tattoos play a major role serving as magical runes with different magical abilities (Lia has owl tattoo that can enable her to see in the dark) that take the form of tattoos once invoked. And the golden dragon tattoo that Lia is wearing on the cover of Inked is more than just decoration…

I’ve been slightly critical in the past of Karen’s tendency to over plot some of her books, but in the short story format, she is always in fine form.  Skin Deep is a great combination of stellar world building, fast-paced action, and that perfect dash of romance between a tough yet vulnerable heroine (with a deliciously dry wit and a rich history) and the ultimate alpha male.  I loved every page and can’t wait for the next story (long or short) featuring these two.

Sexual Content: A brief, but graphic oral sex scene.

My Rating (out of 5):

Click HERE to read an excerpt of Skin Deep

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (January 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425231976
• ISBN-13: 978-0425231975

Disagree with my review?  Email me your review for this or any other book I reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review

Book Description: There's no place like home for the horrordays—unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard . . . or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here—and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

My contribution to the anthology is called Six, and is set in Shanghai during Chinese New Year. Six is one of the deadliest women in China.  Trained from birth to be a warrior, a soldier for the secret police, she can handle anything, anyone.  Except for one man.  The only person who can save her soul.  If she can keep him alive.  -Marjorie M. Liu

Review:
Marjorie M. Liu's Six gives us in interesting eastern spin on vampires and necromancers during the Chinese New Year celebration. The story shifts back and forth from the perspective of Six, a Chinese government raised agent, and Joseph, a necromancer who helps Six when she is infected by a vampire.  When Six meets Joseph she has difficulty accepting the existence of the paranormal world and initially thinks he’s a terrorist, but she can’t deny what she sees and eventually agrees to help Joseph track down the terrorist cell of vampires. 

The world building was very strong here and the take on vampires as feeders of not blood but human souls was unique.  The real problem I had with this story with the character of Six.  She’s extremely distrustful and almost robotic in her behavior that I had difficulty accepting the life changing choices she made, specifically her romantic relationship with Joseph. I did not see them developing in that direction, and when they abruptly did, if felt false given Six’s detachment up until that point.

Sexual Content:
One or two (depending on how you look at it) graphic sex scenes

Click HERE to read an excerpt of "Six".

*Note* Six is part of the Holidays are Hell anthology.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061239097
• ISBN-13: 978-0061239090

If you missed Evy Stone’s (aka Kelly Meding’s paranormal bounty hunter from the upcoming Three Days to Dead) visit and her extremely entertaining Vampires 101 primer and Q&A, be sure to check it out.  If, like me, you’re ready for more Evy, Kelly has taken pity on us and is offering up:

Dead on Suvudu: The Dreg Files!
Two original short stories both set in the same world as THREE DAYS TO DEAD.

• Story 1, The Hoarder, is set four years ago, when Evy was still a rookie Hunter.
• Story 2 (which will premiere Nov 25), Pride Before Fall, features a Hunter named Tybalt who we meet briefly at the end of THREE DAYS TO DEAD.

A Note from Suvudu:

To celebrate the coming publication of Kelly Meding’s Three Days to Dead, which represents both an awesome addition to Urban Fantasy fiction and a stellar new voice in the genre, we’ll be running a few original stories by Kelly over the coming weeks.

We’re excited to feature her work here on Suvudu, as we believe that Kelly’s is an exciting voice that will be around for quite some time.

Enjoy the ride!

—Team Suvudu

 

Purchase a copy of Kelly Meding's breakout novel, Three Days to Dead,
available on November 24:

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Borders.com
IndieBound.com
Random House.com