While Besty Devonshire, owner of needlecraft shop Crewel World and part-time amateur sleuth, is doing volunteer duty at Excelsior's annual Art by the Lake art fair, she learns that Robert McFey, one of the artists, has been murdered. It seems like an open and shut case; a local teenager, already known for minor drug and burglary offences, left finger prints and bloodied footprints at the scene and has been arrested for the crime. But his family, certain he is innocent of murder, ask Besty to investigate. After meeting Mickey, she decides it is possible he didn't do it after all.

Besty soon finds herself involved in the art world - and something out of her depth. All the same, she carries on as best she can, trying to understand all the people involved in the case - from deliquent Mickey to the wannabe goth daughter of the murdered man, from his best friend to his ex-business partner. As always, Besty comes through with the answer in the end, coming to understand not only who killed McFey, but how and why.

This is a quick, pleasant little read. It was a perfect choice after the hard work of Kushiel's Dart. I slipped easily back into Besty's world and enjoyed the visit. I guess this could be said to be a formulaic novel. Besty solves another murder in which someone has been wrong accused and there's lots of peripheral needlework activity. But Ferris has a light, pleasant touch that saves these books and makes each one a fun romp that fills up a few afternoons and leaves the reader with an enjoyable memory of a cozy experience. They are fun rather than challenging and we all need that sometimes.

There's also lots of development of all the familiar characters we've come to know so well. Jill makes a major change in her life, Godwin takes steps up the corporate ladder and Shelly gets a man. Their stories blend neatly into the narrative without taking anything away from the mystery and add depth to the book. Betsy generally solves her cases by understanding people, and Ferris gives us a lovely balance here of interesting new characters and further background and depth for our familiar friends.

This is a stand-alone story. You don't need to have read any of the other books in the series to read this one; but why deny yourself the fun?

Terre D'Ange was founded by Elua, offspring of the One God's son and Mother Earth. Turned away by the One God, he wandered the world with his Companions, angels who had abandoned the One God to follow him. Their descendants are the citizens of Terre D'Ange, who follow Blessed Elua's one precept - Love as thou wilt.

The protagonist of Kushiel's Dart is Phedre, an "unwanted whore's get" who is marked with a red mote in one eye, the sign of Kushiel. She grows up in Cereus House, one of the thirteen houses of the Night Court, place of courtesans, where this is a respected profession following in the way of Elua and his Companion Naamah. Phedre's marque is bought by Anafiel Delauney, a man with secrets, a score to settle and hidden agendas. Also a good man, he teaches Phedre to watch, to listen, to reason and to spy while she keeps her assignations. From this, Phedre quickly finds herself caught up in high politics and intrigue. She will face a long and dangerous road before coming safely home again and the fate of the land may even at times rest of her shoulders.

This is not a simple book and not a short book. It is also not for everyone, with its themes of sexuality, sex and some pain and bondage thrown in. Marked by Kushiel, Phedre is blessed or cursed to find pleasure from pain, whether she wills it or not. However, this book is neither gratuitous or titilatting. Instead, a complex and fascinating world is built from Elua's basic principle to love as one chooses. Choice is very important - rape is still rape here - and there are many branches to Elua's path. Kushiel's is but one of them; the one Phedre is set to walk.

I found myself having two seperate reactions to this novel. One one level, I loved it. Phedre and the other characters are fascinating people who are well described and fully grown and rounded. The plot of complex and convoluted, but it all fits together neatly in the end, even if the reader can't always tell that until later. Terre D'Ange and its surrounding lands are a fascinating society.

However, I struggled to read this and I'm still not exactly sure why. It took me almost a month to read it, and while it is a long book, it shouldn't have taken that much work. It did. Others on the mailing list have said that the pacing is off, and I think I would agree with this. There are times when everything happens furiously fast and others where the story drags. It also took me a while to get into it. The language is generally lovely, but at time long-winded and even tedious. But for all that, I never stopped. I never didn't want to finish the book, I just wished it would go faster at times.

I do recommend Kushiel's Dart. It is an excellent and fascinating story. I also offer a couple of comments and warnings. If you don't think you can handle even delicately and lyrically written bondage, this probably isn't for you. It's there and fundamental to Phedre's character, but neither intrusive nor unnecessary. And you might find it a tough read. I felt it was worth it in the end, but others might not. I suggest sticking with it if you possibly can as there's a solid and satisfying tale within some occasionally poor pacing.

Song and dance man Jimmy Sutane should have no enemies. Popular and successful, he inspires affection rather than dislike. Except that there is someone out there who doesn't agree. Nasty little tricks are plaguing Sutane - a pin in a stick of greasepaint, a boquet of wild garlic tossed onto the stage. The petty incidents are getting him down, driving him into a state of nervousness that is starting to affect both his work and private life.

Sutane's latest hit is based on the (invented) memoirs of Uncle William Farraday (from Police at the Funeral) and it is Uncle William who calls in Mr Campion. Complications abound for Campion as the campaign of petty tricks escalates, one of Sutane's house-guests and co-stars dies in strange circumstances and Campion finds himself losing his usual objectivity as he falls in love with Sutane's wife.

I'll admit straight up that I was disappointed with this book (as my rating probably shows). It started off well, but I felt it got mired in its own cleverness. Campion shifted in and out of character, which I guess was part of the point, but it just didn't work for me. We spent the whole book following what in the end proved to be a major red herring and that really annoyed me.

It was a pleasure to see Uncle William again, but when he's the best thing in the book and he's still a silly old buffer, it's a fiar indication this isn't the best of the Campion books. Read it for completeness as I did, but I don't personally think it'll be a regular reread.

I needed to take a break from this one to read Kushiel's Dart and I've found I really don't care if I go back to it or not, so I'm moving my focus to other books in the TBR mountain.

Grace Alexander didn't believe her friend, Selena, when Selena claimed the book should had just given Grace for her birthday contained a Greek love slave. Feeling ridiculous, Grace performed the incantation under the full moon and was very, very surprised to discover a totally naked - and gorgeous - man in her living room. Grace is also the last thing Julian of Macedon expected when summoned into the 21st century. She sees him as a man rather than a sex object and, once she learns there is a way to end his curse, is determined to help him.

Grace finds herself in a new world from her usual, boring one; a world where Greek goddesses can be summoned with a call, divine mistakes have terrible consequences and Cupid and Psyche are bikers walking (or riding) the streets of New Orleans. Breaking the curse of a vengeful god isn't easy and Grace and Julian have a hard time ahead of them before they can maybe win a happy ending.

Fantasy Lover is both a stand alone novel and the unofficial beginning of Kenyon's popular Dark Hunter series. This is not a Dark Hunter book, but it introduces the world and a number of recurring characters, including Julian and Grace themselves. With my terrible memory, I was having trouble remembering some of the main points and hints of the later Dark Hunter books, I decided a reread of the series was in order. Being totally crazy, I also decided to try to take notes of the important points that tie into the overall story. How long that will last, I don't know, but I managed it for this book.

Despite having a notebook and pen to hand the whole time, I really enjoyed my reread of Fantasy Lover. Kenyon has a deft way with characters and here, shows the early creation of what has become a complex, detailed and fascinating world. Julian is a strong character without being totally alpha, as can be a common fault with heroes in the general romance genre. His attempts to adapt to the modern world and risk opening himself up to emotions again if well handled and Grace is a perfect match for him.

This is a fun read on its own as well as the start of what becomes an excellent paranormal/romantic series.

I still really like these books and want to reread them, but I found I'm just not in the mood for this right now and my TBR pile is so enormous I want to work on paring that down a bit.

Tabitha Deveraux doesn't exactly have a high opinion of Dark Hunter Valerius Magnus. Of course, none of the other Dark Hunters seem to either and Tabitha would be prepared to admit that the fact Valerius is the spitting image of his grandfather - the man who crucified her twin sister's husband, Kyrian - and apparently made in the same mould probably has something to do with it as well. All the same, when she accidently stabs him (thinking he's a Daimon of course) she does her best to care for him, keeping her actions a secret from Amanda and Kyrian at the same time.

Things get even more complicated as she begins to discover the real Val under the surface of the cool, urbane Roman. He's a man who no longer believes he can change anyone's opinion of him, so he's given up trying, instead hiding himself behind the Dark Hunter equivalent of a 'stiff upper lip'. They're polar opposites with a whole lot of baggage between them, but they seem to be falling for each other all the same.

Soon, both Amanda and Tabitha's lives are in danger, Kyrian and Valerius are being forced to work together and death is on the horizon.

This is a great addition to Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. One of her great talents is to take characters who have previously appeared to be less than sympathetic and turned everything around until we're cheering for them. She does this with Valerius here, and we get to watch the gradual transition through Tabitha's eyes. Their love story is a lovely one and they will complement people beautifully through the years; after all, Val needs to loosen up a bit and it wouldn't hurt Tabitha to calm down a little.

Many old favourite characters appear in this book, including Ash and Simi, Amanda, Kyrian and Marissa and more. For those following the series and trying to decipher Kenyon's plans for the books and characters, we get a major revelation here, a major character development and a whole lot more hints and clues. There's a heartbreaking moment, beautifully done that will have long repercussions and a great story to enjoy.

I loved this book and it's probably my favourite Dark Hunter book so far. Go out and enjoy the fun. If you haven't already, discover the Dark Hunters.

When Eve is called to the night club Purgatory (owned, of course, by Roarke) to investigate the murder of a bartender, she is shocked to discover the young man was a cop. As the police close ranks to find the killer of one of their own, it soon becomes clear that there is a cop killer out there and his first target won't be his last.

To make matters more complicated, there seems to be a link to an old business associate of Roarke's, from the days when not all Roarke's ventures were as above board as they are today. An old rivalry has been resurrected and Eve has her work cut out for her to prevent her husband from going outside the law to bury this ghost from the past as well as finding the killer and cleaning out a nest of dirty cops before someone does it for her - in a most permanent manner.

This is another delightful romp (if a murder mystery can be called that) from Robb. While they mystery is clever and the resolution satisfying, it was the development of Eve and Roarke's relationship that I enjoyed most in this book. They have their first really serious fight in this one - the worst kind where both acted in the way they believed to be best and seriously hurt the other in the process. For once, Eve is mostly a fault and, despite her limited understanding of how "this relationship thing works", she is the one who must find a way to fix it. Her solution, when she finally comes up with it, is delightful, funny and touching.

The "In Death" books are always a good read, quick and entertaining and with the added bonus of Eve and Roarke's ever developing relationship. As always, this book can stand alone or be read a part of the series. I recommend reading the whole series - that's more books to enjoy.

I just can't get into this one. I can see that it could be a very good book, but reading it was such a struggle I decided I would rather let it be and enjoy myself with something else.

A meteorite has slammed into Jerusalem, destroying the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque but nothing else. It is a first sign that the Apocalypse may be upon the world. Unbeknown to the general population, Sammael Morningstar has found the Antichrist in Emmaline McNaughton and the prophet Elijah has singled out the daughter of Deirdre McMannus and the Archangel Michael as the Messiah. Things are not looking good for the human race.

Michael is determined to stay on earth with his family, doing his best to ignore God's calls back to Heaven. Each refusal may or may not be bringing him a little closer to Falling as Morningstar did; the fact he is able to heal Morningstar's Antichrist is not a good sign. Page, changed by the events of Fallen Host is trying to understand who he is now, and avoid becoming a messiah to the Maizombies. Mouse, escaped from prison but without the LINK, is simply trying to live, while Rebeckah finds herself on the run from the Order of Inquisitors. These three all find themselves suspects in the cyber-hijacking of the LINK-space analogous to Temple Mount and caught up in the fate of the world, while Apocalyptic hysteria mounts around the globe.

This felt very much like a transitional book to me - we're moving from one phase of the story to another, but we're not ready for the real action to happen yet. There was also a certainly feeling that I was being run around in circles, possibly for not sensible reason. There was a reason, and it was a good one, but the feeling persisted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, to the point of going to great pains not to check out the end (a terrible failing of mine). However, now I come to review it, I'm finding it difficult to find things to say. The interaction between Deirdre, Michael and Amariah was lovely - I can't wait to meet Amariah as a teenager in the next book - and Michael's desperate fight to be there for his family and yet do the right thing was quite heartbreaking at times.

This is a solid novel in an excellent series. I think it is probably the weakest so far, but far from being weak. As I said initially, this is a transitional book; it's setting us up for the conclusion of the story, but little or nothing is resolved by the end. That's still be come and hopefully there will be angels and flaming swords.