Gwen has known from childhood that one day she will marry Bertie, Lord Milburn. So it comes as rather a shock when, while being seduced by her new husband on her wedding night, she finds she actually married his twin brother, Harry, Earl of Cambourne. She is futher outraged to learn that he knew the truth, her parents knew the truth and the real Bertie is missing, fate and location unknown.

Determinded not to let 'things' go any further until she knows where Bertie is and why she has been lied to, Gwen stops Cambourne in his tracks. When he refuses to explain, she sets out trying to discover the truth and avoid falling in love with the husband that affects her in a way Bertie never has.

All in all, this is pretty standard romance fare, although it has the addition of being told by Gwen, who is a fun narrator. Everything is here; identical twins, masquerades, a fiesty heroine (or at least, one who discovers she has it in herself to be so), mistresses and even the shadow of Napoleon. I don't think Benson does anything startlingly new here, but she tells a fun tale that if enjoyable to follow.

I liked Gwen and I liked Harry and I certainly wanted them to work things out. I did occasionally want to yell at them that all they needed to do was talk to each other, but I had enough fun along the way not to be too annoyed. The ending is great as the twins try to outdo each other in putting the other on the spot and Gwen takes control of matters. My biggest complaint is probably that things between Gwen's friend Cecy and Cecy's husband are never resolved, nor is the issue of Cecy's mother and the footman. It was made a significant portion of the story and seemed to be abandoned at the last minute as Gwen and Harry's HEA took over centre stage. I realise that's where the book needed to end, but couldn't we have sorted Cecy out first then?

A fun, light read that I recommend, not as something that will blow the reader's mind, but as an enjoyable way to spend an evening or two.

Jethri Goeblyn is a very junior, and somewhat unwanted, apprentice on the Terran trading ship, Gobelyn's Market. While stopped on a Liaden world, Liaden ways being very different from Terran ways, he finds himself embroiled in Liaden politics and a possible trade scam. He is even more surprised at the end of the matter, to find himself apprenticed to Liaden Master Trader Norn ven'Deelin.

Thus begins Jethri's apprenticeship not only in Trade, but also in all things Liaden. He stumbles, he makes errors and slowly, he begins to find his feet. If he can keep his life and his melanti intact, Jethri may just find himself the first Trader fully of Terra and Liad.

I loved this book. Reading it was a great experience and that is the main reason for its high score. It is a solid tale, set around 200 years before the main sequence of Liaden books. It throws in some new ideas that had be somewhat confused at first, but that grew clearer as the story progressed. About 100 pages from the end, I was wondering how the authors could possibly tie up all the threads they had produced in the space that was left. Knowing the most recent books were set in a completely different time period, I was worried that I'd be left wondering what the heck was going on and knowing there wasn't another book about Jethri for me to find out.

I was very pleasantly surprised and most impressed to discover it was done perfectly. Suddenly, everything started falling into place and by the end, I was left at a perfect ending point. True, there could be more about Jethri and his companions - and I hope there will be - but it isn't necessary. This book stands beautifully on its own.

It does introduce some new concepts that took a while to make sense and made me wonder why I hadn't heard about them before in the books that are set later. Belatedly, I realised that this point too was completely under control and made perfect sense. Instead, I find myself hoping all will become clearer in the next books, which go back in time instead of forward.

I don't think I would recommend making this one's first Liaden book, but I also believe it would stand up to that. Wherever you start, explore Lee and Miller's Liaden universe. It is a fascinating place.

Three hundred years ago, Molly was cursed by a vengeful goddess to become a succubus, a creature who lives off men's sexual energy. For all that, she remains very much human at heart. When a strange man literally falls at her feet, wounded and amnesiac, she takes him in and cares for him, physically and soon emotionally as well. She calls him Michael, and together they try to piece together who he is, where he has come from and who is chasing him.

I loved this story. I loved the characters, the setup, the pacing, everything. It was a delight to read and I'll be getting hold of my own copy as soon as possible. Molly is a delight and Michael is wonderful, knowledge and naive at the same time. The twist at the end of Michael's identity is brilliant and Molly's last line is perfect.

This can be read alone, but technically it belongs in Wilks' Moon Children series along with 'Only Human' from the anthology Lover Beware and Tempting Danger. I think I would have got some throw away references to Molly and Michael in Tempting Danger better if I had read this first, but it doesn't really matter.

Denric Valdoria, the seventh of Roca and Eldrinson's children, has come to the planet of Sandstorm with the plan of opening a school. Aware of the privileges his status gives him, he has a need to give something back to society, rather than take up an academic position in a high level university somewhere.

The story opens with him running, desperately, with demons chasing him. He has accidently strayed into the city of Never-Haven where everything is curved and to draw a straight line is to draw down the Edger demons. Denric finds himself captured and must set out to free himself.

This is a very short, little story with a simple plot that is beautifully worked. We never discover if the demons and their spells are truly magic and some long forgotten technology - and as Denric reflects, is there really a difference? Denric gets a chance to learn more about himself and how he fits with his famous family where he is a scholar rather than a fighter like so many of his siblings. This is a lovely little insight into a previous shadowy member of the Valdoria family and I look forward to meeting him again in a full novel.

Two people, from two very different centuries, are about to be brought together.

Wilhelmina March, more commonly known as Elle, is a modern girl tired of her brother's attempts at matchmaking. When she helps a old, homeless woman, she is given a voucher for 'one free husband'. Thinking it a joke, she redeems it, asking for a man who will be polite, have a big house and not expect her to dote on him.

Henry, the earl of Allsbrook, is about to be married to a wealthy merchant's daughter for the money she will bring him to repair his estates. He expects a woman who will know her place as his countess and trouble him as little as possible.

I saw this reviewed on the All About Romance website, where the reviewer praised the book saying that it considered the sort of things a modern heroine would be worrying about if she found herself in Georgian England (or anywhere else in the past for that matter). She worries about the big things like birth control and what to do at "that time of the month" as well as the little things like the pain of wearing a corset and the inevitable growth of her armpit hair.

This book is a collection of essays from various writers, especially in the SF, Fantasy and Romance genres, on various ideas and themes portrayed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What I read was brilliant and I only didn't finish it because my life is so busy and I needed to return the book to the owner so the long line of friends who want to read it get the chance. I'll get it back again when the queue is shorter.

The protagonist of this novel is Phaethon of Radamanthus House on an Earth many millenia in the future where humanity is immortal and the people of society come in a range of material and mental forms. As the book begins, Phaethon discovers that there are large holes in him memory, ranging back through at least the last 250 years. As he tries to discover the truth, he begins to learn that all is not perfect in paradise. Civilisation has become stagnant and focussed on the safety of now, rather than the possibilities of th future. Phaethon has threatened that stability and great measures have been taken to neutralise him. This first book of a trilogy focusses on Phaethon's attempts to rediscover the memories he has lost while avoiding exile from the society that sustains him all while learning what kind of man he had been before and how that compares to the man he is now. Which does he want to be?

I'm having real trouble working out what I thought of this book, as it felt something like a bipolar reading experience. There were parts that dragged me in and pulled me along and places where I felt like I was trying to wade through a bog.

As a far future novel, it was full of new technical terms, but these didn't particularly worry me. I loved one of the main themes, that is summed up by a quote from Babylon 5 where Sinclair says that "all of this was for nothing unless we go to the stars" which has always resonated with me. (And to say any more out that would introduce spoilers, which I'm trying not to do.)

But all the same, now I've finished it (and also while I was reading it) there was some kind of weight that dragged me down and made it a struggle. I'm not sure what it was though. There was a certain feeling of "just get on with it already" I think. I alternated between desperately wanting to read the rest of the story and deciding I couldn't face it. I'm still not sure. I expect I will read the other books, but not just yet as I want a few easier reads (especially since I also worked hard to read Kushiel's Dart and had a similar ambivalent reaction to that) in between.

Twelve year old Meggie lives with her father, Mo, a bookbinder. Books have always been a huge part of her life; treasures that will share their stories and secrets with anyone will to take the time to read them. But Meggie had to teach herself to read as her father has never read aloud to her and swears he never will.

Meggie has never thought this to be unusual, until a strange man named Dustfinger comes to their door, wanting to know about a particular book. A book that Mo has never mentioned to Meggie or let her see. Soon, they have packed their bags and are on their way to stay with Eleanor, a relative of Meggie's mother. There, things get more complicated and soon Mo and the book, Inkheart, have been kidnapped. Meggie and Eleanor, with Dustfinger accompanying them, set out to find Mo and learn his secret and that of the book.

I debated whether or not to give up the secret of Inheart in this review. I know it has been done in some reviews and even on some of the book blurbs. It's brilliant, clever and wonderfully executed and I decided to leave it to the reader to decide if he or she wants to know in advance, or to discover the truth slowly as Meggie does.

Inkheart is technically a children's book, but it is as much a delight for adults as their children. I hope I'll get a chance to read it to my son one day as I also don't see this as a book that is going to date badly. It is a little slow to get going - I had to work on the first third or so - which is where it lost a point. But once the pace picks up, things roar along as we work out what is going on and our heroes all supply parts of the solution.

I have recently heard that there is a sequel in the works - I had wondered as I finished as some characters were left without their story completed - and I will be looking forward to reading it.

Colby Jansen has been running herself into the ground for the last five years, keeping her late stepfather's ranch running in trust for her younger half-brother and half-sister. When their father's brothers arrive from South America, wanting to take the children back with them, Cobly is determined to keep her beloved sibilings in the States with her. Not even the imposing De La Cruz brothers, Nicholas and Rafael, are going to be able take Paul and Jinny away from her.

Nicholas and Rafael are not exactly used to having anyone oppose their wishes, let alone a woman. They are both ancient Carpathians, send out by Prince Mikhail's father centuries ago to fight the vampires across the world. They and their three brothers went to South America, believing they would have no chance to ever finding their lifemates, but determined to do as their prince commanded. Both are close to losing their battle against the darkness, but are not yet ready to give up the fight.

Rafael is stunned to discover Colby is his lifemate, but while she is instantly and greatly attracted to him, she is determined not to fall under his spell. At the same time, Rafael and Colby must cope with malicious attacks on the ranch, and the presence of a Master Vampire, one Rafael and his brothers knew long ago.

Despite the potential of the love story in this book, I felt that the development of Rafael and Colby's relationship was the weakest part of the novel. It was particularly formulaic; Colby was determined not to succumb to Rafael and didn't really even life him, Rafael wanted to claim her at once and had to fight that instinct and his growing darkness while giving her time, and it seemed to happen over about two pages when Colby shifted from fighting him to accepting him fully. It is that latter that drives me nuts, as there often doesn't seem to be a sensible reason for the heroine's sudden reversal of attitude. It grows slowly and then, wham, it's over and she's completely his - but still going to stand up to him and argue with him.

The side plots are what saves the book for me. We briefly meet Vikirnoff's lifemate again; it turns out she's related to Colby and can give her some information of Carpathian hunters. The bad news is that her information comes from an unreliable source and is dangerously biased. We learn more about the ancient wizards and there is a clear feeling that a lot of the long established situations in the books are going to be coming together soon, including the wizard's cave Jolie and Traian found, the history of the Carpathians, the further return of the Ancients Prince Vlad sent out and the dangerously powerful master vampires that have been turning up lately.

This isn't the best of the Carpathian books, but it has important information in it that makes it worth reading. Colby and Rafael aren't bad lead characters either, but the development of their relationship could have been handled better. I know that my definition the Carpathian men are forceful and exceedingly alpha, but it all gets a bit much sometimes. It wouldn't hurt if Feehan could tone it all down a bit again, back to heroes like the ones we started with.

Lily Rule is a San Diego police detective assigned to investigate a murder that might just be the work of a werewolf. Werewolves, more accurately known collectively as the Lupi are slowly establishing themselves in society, becoming accepted legally and popularly as citizens (at least in human form) instead of mere beasts. This makes the case a sensitive one and there are more senior detectives than Lily who might have been given the job. However, Lily is a 'sensitive' which means she can sense various types of magic, but not be affected by it. This isn't an accepted talent, but her superior knows about it and makes use of it when appropriate.

Rule Turner is the heir to one of the Lupi clans. He's suave, sophisticated and the poster boy for the image of themselves the Lupi wish to project. He's also a suspect in Lily's murder case. Rule and Lily find themselves learning more about each other - and their respective species - and dealing with an unexpected bond.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I found myself suffering from a sense of deja vu as I read. I finally discovered that Wilks had originally written a short story with the same characters and some of the same plot, that went in a different direction. Obviously, I must have read that, although I can't specifically remember it. I'm not really a 'werewolf' person, but I foudn this a good example of the genre. Rule's clan fits well in the modern world while still remaining its Lupi identity and Wilks has built a solid basis for her werewolf society, even if we don't know it all yet.

I am likely to be reading the later books in the series and I hope we'll learn more about the Lupi - and Lily's grandmother.