The Gathering Dark by Christopher Golden

This was actually the fourth in a series of books called the Shadow Saga. I'd heard of Christopher Golden before, but this was the first book of his that I'd picked up. I decided to read it because of the horror label. I guess I've been trying to scare myself recently!

The story begins in a bar where a magician has made several people disappear. The bartender calls in a guy he knows, Peter Octavian. It turns out that the magician is not a magician, but a demon, and he's swallowed the people who "disappeared." He vanquishes the demon and the people come sliding out of the demon's stomach.

Meanwhile, Keomany is having problems. She owns a sweets shop in Vermont. She comes home from a festival to find the sky a pumpkin orange and demonic creatures have eaten or possessed many of the people in her town. Keomany is an earthwitch with magic of her own to fight back with and manages to escape the village.

Peter and Keomany team up with a priest, Peter's former lover Nikki, the vampire shape-changer Allison, and Kuromaku, a former samurai vampire. A Hellgod has opened a portal from his world into their world and is slowly taking cities from the earth, unleashing his demons upon the unsuspecting citizens of the world. Peter and his team must find a way to defeat the Hellgod and send him and his Whispers back to their own dimension.

While I enjoyed this book, it took more suspension of disbelief than I can muster at times. I can get on board with demons, but evil creatures who eat and destroy are not as believable for me. Also, I wasn't very comfortable with the Earth magic that Keomany had. Overall, it was an interesting book, but not as scary as I would have wished because of my disbelief.

If you believe in earth magic and creatures from another dimension, this book is for you.

Ghost Walk by Heather Graham

I've been on somewhat of a horror/scary streak, which is appropriate since it's October. This was a ghostly read!

Nikki leads a tour group around what may be the most haunted city in the United States, New Orleans. She's drawn even further into that world when one of her friends, an employee appears in her bedroom late at night.

The next morning, she discovers that her friend has been murdered, and at the time when she appeared in Nikki's bedroom. Nikki goes to the police after multiple sightings of her friend's ghost as well as the ghost of a man who it turns out was an FBI agent. The police don't believe her, but Brent Blackhawk does. He's a paranormal investigator and a man who can also communicate with the dead.

The two of them embark upon an investigation to find out who killed these two people. Brent joins Nikki's tour company and is able to add some stories to the repertoire of the tour guides since he can speak to the dead and find out what really happened!

I enjoyed this book. There was some steam. There was plenty of action and suspense. I really enjoyed the ghost stories of New Orleans. If you are a believer in ghosts, it may be scarier than you can handle.

Edge of Fear by Cherry Adair

This is one of a trilogy of books, and I've already put the other two on my To Be Read list!

Caleb Edge is one of three brothers who is gifted with paranormal abilities. Caleb can "rewind" into the past and influence the way things happen. He can also heal, among other gifts. He uses his gifts in service to the T-FLAC paranormal unit, working to find terrorists and other evildoers.

Caleb and his brothers are subject to a family curse. One of their ancestors spurned a woman, and she gave them both their paranormal gifts as well as cursing them to lose the women they love. Caleb and his brothers have sworn never to fall in love in order to stop the family line and beat the curse.

Caleb has just been released from the hospital when he is sent after Heather Shaw. Heather's father has disappeared, along with billions of dollars belonging to terrorists who want their money back. Heather has gone into hiding in order to stay safe from the men who would use her to get to her father.

Caleb's been ordered to watch Heather to find out if she is part of her father's scheme as well as to track down her father. Heather is completely unaware of her father's actions or his whereabouts.

The two are (of course) instantly attracted to one another, and steaminess ensues. This one is somewhat graphic, so if that is not your style, choose another book. I really like paranormal romance than involves psi powers, so this book was another hard to put down for me. I would definitely recommend it to those who are interested in paranormal romance, and especially psi powers.

The Secret Cardinal by Tom Grace

I picked up this book because I thought it was going to be similar to Dan Brown's DaVinci Code. I was quickly proved wrong. Yes, it involved the Catholic church. However, there was no mystery to be solved.

Yin Daoming is a priest in the People's Republic of China. He has been imprisoned most of his career as a priest. He attained the rank of bishop, but was unable to attain a higher rank due to the need of Cardinals to make a trip to Rome to accept their positions. Unbeknownst to the world, he has been made a cardinal in pectore, a Secret Cardinal by the Pope.

The Pope knows his life is coming to an end, and he wants Yin freed. He sets Nolan Kilkenny to the task, along with a group of Chinese men in the armed forces. Soon after he turns this group to the task, he passes away, starting the Conclave to choose the next Pope. Surprisingly, Yin's name shows up to be counted among the papabile, those eligible to become the next Pope.

Yin will be unable to assume the office of Pope if he is not rescued from the Chinese prison where he has spent decades of his life. Kilkenny puts a dangerous plan in place that has a slim chance of success.

I won't give away the ending, but it left me in tears. I really enjoyed that the author brought an issue to light that I wasn't really aware of--the plight of Catholics in China. There was an afterword by the author with several facts, and I think I will probably do some more reading on the subject in the future.

This book was more adventure than religion. However, if you're not interested in religion or the Catholic Church, I would avoid this book. I felt like the details were well-researched. If they weren't (and I don't know enough to say for sure), they were definitely believable! Great book.

Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

I like reading about vampires. But I don't want to read the same old story over and over again. I was thrilled to find a new twist on the vampire story in Touch of Evil! It's somewhat similar to Laurell K. Hamilton's vampires in her Anita Blake books, so if you like Hamilton, you'll likely enjoy this book.

Kate lives in a house she owns and is slowly renovating into several different apartments. She's also a courier, flying expensive items to the four corners of the earth. As she's returning from a courier trip, Tom shows up to rent her apartment. He's been illegally evicted from his apartment for being a lycanthrope. Kate is immediately attracted to him, and the feeling is mutual.

Kate has a history with the Thrall, this book's version of vampires. There are Hosts, who share their bodies with the vampires through the laying of eggs in their bloodstream, and there is the Herd, those who feed the Thrall. Each Herd is led by a Queen. Kate has been bitten by a vampire after being given to them by her former fiance. She also defeated the Queen, so she is considered Not Prey and off-limits for hunting or feeding.

Something changes, and the Thrall begin to come after her. It turns out that they want her to be their next Queen, and it leads to a confrontation between her, the Thrall, and the area's lycanthropes.

The book was action packed, and I couldn't put it down. The vampires are not pretty in this book, and that's something I've thought since I started reading vampire books! They're evil parasites, and the authors certainly made them evil in this novel. I would highly recommend this book to pretty much anyone who enjoys paranormal romance. I know I can't wait to read the next in the series!

What's going on in my Book Kingdom

I'm gearing up to participate in National Novel Writing Month next month. If you haven't heard of it, go have a look here. I will most likely not be reviewing many books during that time since my energy will be devoted to creative writing instead of review writing.

In the mean-time, one of my friends has a giveaway for a mini wallet going on here. I think it's quite pretty. All you have to do is swing by and leave a comment about the charity organizations you support or have supported in the past!

I'd love to hear what's going on for everyone else who reads my blog. Please comment! I love to read what you have to say.

The Royal Pain by Mary Janice Davidson

In an alternate evolution of life on earth, Alaska became its own country instead of being sold to the United States. It's not a democracy, but a monarchy. This is the story of the oldest daughter of King Baranov, Alexandria.

Alexandra is having nightmares about an incident that happened in Davidson's previous book about the same family, The Royal Treatment. Her father decides that she needs some time off, so he sends her and her entourage to North Dakota as a liaison to an aquarium there. She meets Dr. Shel Rivers who is determined to think of her as the stereotypical spoiled princess. Alex shows Shel that she isn't at all stereotypical and he helps her get over her nightmares.

This book was not really my type. I liked the idea of Alaska becoming a monarchy as opposed to being part of the United States. It's being difficult to avoid snarky comments about a particular political candidate right now...

The characters were rather rough around the edges. They were meant to be--Alaska is a wilderness. I haven't met many people from there, but the stereotype is that it's mostly men, and mostly manly men. However, I have relatives who live in Alaska, and they're not that type. There was a lot of profanity in this one, and it was pretty steamy, romance-wise. If you're looking for a quick bit of fluff to read and don't mind profanity or explicit romantic scenes, this book's for you.