This week I came face to face with my fan-girl side, and it is not rational or fair.  The cover art reveal for the new Lux book would have been a neutral thumb for any other series, but as evidenced by the enthusiastic Four Bats I just gave OBSIDIAN, the two characters being portrayed as Eurotrash slouchers below are near and dear to my heart.  I’m not proud of my thumbs down (ok, or the fact that I just called those cover models “Eurotrash”), but my emotional investment in Katy and Daemon took over.  The ONYX cover would be perfectly fine for another Paranormal YA, I’m just put out that it doesn’t match my mental picture.  Does anyone else have a favorite character that doesn’t match their cover model, even one that everyone else seems fine with? 

 

Title: Obsidian Author:  Jennifer L. Armentrout Series: Lux #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 292 pages Publisher: Entangled Publishing; December 6, 2011 ISBN-10: 1937044238 ISBN-13: 978-1937044237   Sexual Content: Kissing, sexual contact, references to sex, and attempted rape. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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

Title: Clockwork Prince Author: Cassandra Clare  Series: The Infernal Devices #2 Cover Art: Cliff Nielsen  Genre: Paranormal Steampunk, YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Hardcover: 528 pages Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (December 6, 2011) ISBN-10: 1416975888 ISBN-13: 978-1416975885 Sexual Content: Kissing. Two scenes of sensuality Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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

Title: Blood of Eden Author:  Tami Dane Series: Sloan Skye #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: No Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Kensington; December 6, 2011 ISBN-10: 0758267096 ISBN-13: 978-0758267092   Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex. Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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There are just a few weeks left of 2011, so of course the bloggers at All Things Urban Fantasy are already anxiously awaiting some of the biggest releases of 2012.  Over the next three weeks, we’ll each be listing our Top 12 for 2012 titles as part of a new feature officially launching in 2012 called Paranormal Picks (more about that later).  Abigail’s picks will be posted on Dec 4th, Julia’s on Dec 11th, and Kristina’s on Dec 18th. These 12 titles (and a few honorable mentions that are scant on details but big on expectations) make up our most coveted releases, so it goes without saying that we would LOVE to review them.  Please contact Abigail directly AllThingsUrbanFantasy AT gmail DOT com and we’ll get back to you right away.

 

 

And my Top 12 are…