Books Read in February 2011

The following is my list of books read in February. Can I say it was a really good month for books? Some of my favorite authors had releases. And I've had plenty of reading time as I've become the shuttle bus for my kid to his college classes. (Sitting in a car in 20 degree temps is not fun but reading makes it bearable). So without further ado...(9 books, 2 short stories)

Unseen by Rachel Caine *****
A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang ****
Enchanted No More by Robin D. Owens **
The Last of the Demon Slayers by Angie Fox *****
Blood, Smoke and Mirrors by Robin Bachar ****
Remedial Magic (short story) by Jenna Black ***
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver *****
Retro Demonology (short story) by Jana Oliver ****
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney ****
Demon Marked by Anna J. Evans ****
Etched in Bone by Adrian Phoenix ******
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison *****

6 STARS
Etched in Bone by Adrian Phoenix - 4th book in the Maker's Song series - This is by far my favorite series. The story is fantastic, the characters amazing. Its dark, emotional, and beautiful in its tragic main character, Dante. He is, I think, the best urban fantasy character of all time. Vampire/fallen angel, creator, the endless road, maybe the Great Destroyer (God I hope not), tortured, abused, everyone wants a piece of him or they want him dead. Will he heal the world or burn it down? I don't know, but I know I want to be along on the ride. Awesome.

5 STARS
Unseen by Rachel Caine - 3rd in the Outcast series - Cassie used to be djinn. Now she's working with Luis Rocha to stop another djinn (Pearl) who she thought she destroyed from destroying the world. Cassie is a brilliant character - not human at all, tho she's now in a human body and learning how to be - she wants to do the right thing, but is hampered by her djinn nature. Luis is sexy and flawed in his own right. They're attracted to each other - maybe they even love each other - but Luis doesn't trust her. And in order to do the right thing, her actions won't have him trusting her anytime soon.

The Last of the Demon Slayers by Angie Fox - I posted on this one, so you can check out my review. I love this series - biker witches with crazy spells, a Greek shape-shifting griffin and a pre-school teacher turned demon slayer who has no idea what she's doing half the time, but she does it with heart. Its funny. Its silly. Its romantic. And it has just the right amount of angst to pull it all together into a wonderful story.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver - This book takes place in a vastly changed world where things have gone to shit. Riley is a demon trapper's daughter, studying to be a demon trapper herself - tho the society would like to see her fail. She hates her father's trapping partner, Denver, who is a few years older than her (or does she?). When her father is killed fighting a demon, its up to Den to keep her from doing something stupid. This is a very unique story in that its just as much about a teenage girl trying to find her place in a harsh world as it is about them hunting demons and figuring out why demons are getting away. I loved it.

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison - The latest in the Rachel Morgan series. Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and Trent are on a road trip to the annual witches conference, where Rachel is going to be going before the council to answer for using black demon magic. I usually hate road trip books - they're frustrating. But this one gets it right. At times hysterically funny, tense, scary and sweet, the long trip builds on the characters' relationships as they're thrown from one situation to the next. Loved it.

4 STARS
A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang - This book is a great first in a series. Abby, the main character is a Touchstone. Demons, fae and angels can use her to travel from their realm to ours. She's working for the faery, Moira, who maintains the crossroads - only Moira is missing. She's trying to keep it a secret. Enter Brystion, an incubus who is searching for his sister who has also gone missing. Ally suffers a seizure and touchstones to him. Then she touchstones to a small unicorn. Then all hell breaks loose. This book had some major plot twists at the end. The action sequences at times were confusing (I had to reread a couple), but it was a great story. I'm dying to know more about the characters.

Blood, Smoke and Mirrors by Robin Bachar -Cat is a witch who's been kicked out of the witches society after killing someone who attacked her. Who turned her in? Her boyfriend at the time, Lex. (He's her ex now.) Titania (a title for the faery liason) is killed and several key people come to Cat wanting her to become the new Titania, something she really doesn't want. She's assigned a bodyguard after her competition attempts to kill her. Lex. Then she discovers her competition is her evil father. I know, it sounds crazy and not in a good way, but this was a surprisingly good story. The plot was there. The characters were well developed. There was plenty of angst. Cat has to go thru a series of trials to become Titania, all the while dealing with assassins and sorting out her relationship with Lex. I liked it.

Retro Demonology by Jana Oliver - a prequel short story to The Demon Trapper's Daughter, this is a nice little lead in to the main story.

Demon Marked by Anna J. Evans - This is the 2nd in a series (I haven't read the first, but I'm going to have to hunt it down.) Emma is a girl with a problem. When she was a toddler, her parents sacrificed her two siblings and her to demons. They all survived, but she now has a demon mark and needs to feed on humans to survive. She works at a bar where she can have her pick of losers to feed on, but makes a mistake and chooses the wrong guy. She ends up passed out in an alley and when she comes to, he's dead. His gang is not going to be happy. She's forced to call her brother-in-law's cousin, a lawyer, to help her get rid of the body. Andre has issues of his own - his family is mob and he has an addiction to sex. It turns out somebody is trying to take down the family business and the gang has something to do with it. All hell breaks loose, Emma and Andre fight a growing attraction and have to learn to trust each other. Again, its hard to describe without it sounding ridiculous, but I thought it was a well thought out story, I liked the characters and like I said, it made me I want to read the first book (which I'd looked at and passed on when it came out).

Remedial Magic by Jenna Black - This is a short story that goes alone with the Faeriewalker series (Glimmerglass & Shadowspell). I like this series & this short story is entertaining. Might make you look at teddy bears in a different light, tho. lol

2 STARS
Enchanted No More by Robin D. Owens - Jenni is half elf, half djinn and the only fae still alive who can balance all the elements. Her entire family (other than one gravely injured brother) died during an event that she showed up late to because she was having sex with her then-boyfriend Aric. Her brother, Rothly, disowned her and she's lived alone for the last fifteen years. Only there's another event coming and the fae world needs her help. I thought this book would have been better written first person. I thought the idea for the story was good, but it got bogged down in trying to explain the world. And I couldn't figure out whether humans knew fae existed or not. The fae seemed to walk among them looking anything but human, but then the humans were freaked out by seeing the fae in Yellowstone. It was confusing. I also didn't really like Aric - I thought he was idealistic to the point of being childish (I do like my men tragic and angsty, so...). And I have to say I'm very critical when it comes to world building, so it might just be me, but I just didn't get into this one.