Cover Spotlight: Paranormal Romance Picks

Releases May 25, 2010. Author’s site is here.

Can an oracle change the future she sees?
Tara Sheridan swore off criminal profiling years ago. By combining Tarot card divination with her own intuition, she narrowly escaped the grasp of a serial killer who left her scarred for life. She put down her cards and withdrew from work and society. Now, Sophia, a member of an ancient secret society connected to the mythic Delphic Oracle, asks Tara to find a missing scientist who has unlocked the destructive secrets of dark energy. Tara resists— she fears reawakening her long-buried talents and blames Sophia’s Daughters of Delphi for the death of her mother. But, grudgingly, she agrees to search for the missing scientist, Lowell Magnusson.

Tara travels to Las Alamos National Laboratory, the location of Magnusson’s disappearance. She meets the serious, impatient, and highly attractive Agent Harry Li— and re-encounters her old partner, Richard Corvus. Corvus is now chief of the Special Projects Division, a position Tera might have held, had she not dropped out of investigative work. Corvus considers Tara mentally imbalanced and not to be trusted— but it may be Corvus who is untrustworthy.

Tara’s investigation and Tarot cards tell her Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, may hold the key to her father’s plans, and that they both are in grave danger. Meanwhile, Corvus and the Daughters of Delphi have their own plans…and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Releases June 22, 2010. Author’s site here.

To stop a vampire killer, she’ll have to slay her own demons first.

A provocative and savvy vampire, Alexandra Sabian moves to the sleepy hamlet of Jefferson, Mississippi—population 6,000, nearly one-half vampires—to escape the demons lurking in her past. As an Enforcer for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigation (FBPI), Alex must maintain the uneasy peace between her kind and humans, including Jefferson’s bigoted sheriff, who’d be happy to see all vampires banished from town. Then really dead vamps start turning up—beheaded, crucified, and defanged—killed in the same gruesome manner that Alex’s father was murdered decades ago. For Alex, the professional has become way too personal.

Things get even more complicated when the FBPI sends in some unnervingly sexy backup: Alex’s one-time mentor, lover, and fiancé, Varik Baudelaire. Still stinging from the betrayal that ended their short-lived engagement, Alex is determined not to give in to the temptation that soon threatens to short-circuit her investigation.Like it or not, though, as the body count grows, and the public panic level rises, Varik may be her only hope to stop a relentless killer who’s got his own score to settle, and his own bloody past to put right.

Releases February 23, 2010. Author’s site is here.

n a world where Elemental Sylphs are used for slave labour, Solie thought her biggest problem in life was avoiding an arranged marriage with an older man. That is, until she finds herself kidnapped for use as a human sacrifice in the luring and binding of a Battler, the most dangerous kind of Sylph there is. Terrified but determined not to die, Solie fights back and finds herself suddenly the master of an immensely powerful, shape-changing creature who can take on any form she wishes.

Heyou, however, isn’t the only Battle Sylph around, and the two of them are forced to run, pursued by men determined to destroy them both. With no other options left to her, Solie flees with her newfound allies to the only source of sanctuary left to them, but death is tracking them down and Heyou is filling her with desires that threaten to change the world.

Releases April 2010. A third in the series, Queen of the Sylphs, will releases in November 2010.

Years after Eferem and the battle on the Cliffs, Ril is a free Sylph, living with the man he still calls his master in Sylph Valley.  Only Ril doesn’t care about his freedom.  Instead he’s a broken creature, crippled in that final battle and, in his own mind, useless.

However, when Leon’s oldest daughter Lizzy is kidnapped by slavers and taken halfway across the world, Ril is the only one who can track her.  Together, he and Leon follow to a world alien to both of them, following a bond Ril’s not willing to admit to, even in the depths of his own heart.

Releases April 2010. Author’s site here. I like the sound of this one and find the cover particularly striking.

NO SAFE HARBOR

With her badass rain boots, her faithful dog, and the ability to predict the monster tsunamis that have reduced the US to a series of islands, Kathryn O’Malley isn’t afraid of much. Cut off from all society, she takes to the airwaves as Tsunami Blue, hoping to save something of humanity as the world around her crumbles. But Blue should be afraid—because her message reaches the wrong ears.

Now she’s the target of ruthless pirates known as Runners who want to use her special talents for their own profiteering—as soon as they can find her. Blue’s only shot at survival lies with the naked stranger who washes up on her rocky beach. A man who might just be working for Runners himself. Torn between suspicion and attraction, the two will have to navigate a surging tide of danger and deceit if they hope to stay alive.

Releases March 2010. Author’s site here. I’m actually not liking this cover at all, but it’s scifi romance and there are simply too fee of those.

A FIERY ENCOUNTER

Like two ill-aligned stars, Shyanne Kedar and Greyson Dane were destined to collide. She was a smuggler’s daughter, and he, an interstellar lawman. Their affair was scorching, dazzling … and ended like a supernova, in a blaze of betrayal.

A LOVE REKINDLED

Ten years later, the flames haven’t cooled. Shayanne’s lush body, the twist of her lips and the fire in her eyes – all radiate the same magnetism that ensnared Greyson before, and now he’s truly her prisoner. But as much as things have changed, they remain exactly the same. Danger threatens. Humanity’s fate hangs in the balance. And though his tempting captor doesn’t know it, if Greyson’s plan succeeds, it will save mankind … and lose him the only woman he ever loved. This time, forever.

Releases March 30, 2010. Author’s site here.

Jaxon Castille: jaguar shifter, warrior, assassin. He has long hungered for the chance to make his former lover, Libby Jamieson, pay for her deadly betrayal. After three long years he’s finally found her. The hunt is over . . .

But the Libby that he finds is not what he expected. She has no memory of their tumultuous affair, of her treachery, of anything beyond her own name. A shadowy and deadly clan has marked them both for death, and in an instant, he game changes: the hunter has become the hunted.

On the run, with the ghosts of their past between them and a dark, desperate hunger quickly reclaiming their bodies and souls, Libby and Jaxon must discover the truth behind the dark forces working against them. Together, they must grab hold of a destiny that has the power to either heal them or destroy them.

But the truth is far more shattering than anyone could imagine . . .

Releases April 1, 2010. Author’s site here.

An arranged marriage between a werewolf and a vampire.

There will be blood.

She may resist his bite, but she can’t resist his charms…

Werewolf princess Blu Masterson won’t allow her seductive vampire husband to consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her forever. Alone in a secluded estate with her sworn enemy, Blu curses the marriage arranged to bring their rival nations together, especially since Creed Saint-Pierre calls out to her most feral desires.

When Blu uncovers her pack’s secret plot to destroy the vampire nation—and Creed—she is forced to confront her growing feelings for her sexy undead husband. Will she choose the only life she’s ever known or accept his vampire bite?

Releases April 6, 2010. Author’s site here.

A return to the world of the Warlands…

Bethral, a beautiful warrior, and Ezren, a quick-witted storyteller, are confronted with a civil war and a tribe or warriors with their own code of honor and their own rules of pleasure and partnership. To stay alive they must learn new customs, confront their enemies, and conceal Ezren’s fiery power.

Releases May 4, 2010. Author’s site here.

Hell hath no fury…

Fate has led Eden Riley to become a “psychic consultant” to the police, even though her abilities are unreliable at best. Those paranormal powers are about to get her into a jam she couldn’t have predicted. After her hunky police detective partner guns down a serial killer in front of her, Eden realizes that she’s quite literally no longer alone. A voice in her head introduces himself as Darrak. He’s a demon. But not in a bad way!

…like a woman possessed.

Darrak lost his original body 300 years ago thanks to a witch’s curse. This is the first time he’s ever been able to speak directly to a host, plus there’s a bonus. Eden’s psychic energy helps him to take form during daylight hours. He wants to use this chance to find a way to break his curse — finally. Otherwise, Eden’s going to have to learn to live with this sexy demon…like it or not.

And she thinks she might like it.

Releases May 24, 2010. Author’s site here.

“Make love to me, sorcerer. Show me your powers.”

Gabriel is the youngest member of the Priory of Callan—an ancient Celtic brotherhood of cursed sorcerers and alchemists, each with deadly abilities and each haunted by a tragic past. Tortured by the devastating loss of his fiancée in 1755, Gabriel wants nothing more than to reunite with his soul mate.

Two and a half centuries later, Gabriel is still searching for his love. And then he finds Lily Bellefontaine. Cool-headed and practical, she has no memory of Gabriel. But she also can’t deny the pull of attraction drawing her under his seductive spell, urging her to give in to the…

Releases August 3, 2010. Author’s site here. This a 3-novella anthology by one author.

In the Big Easy, there’s a legend women long for: a sexual voodoo spirit who can fulfill their darkest fantasies. And in these three steaming-hot novellas, he helps three New Orleans couples achieve the ultimate satisfaction…

Release Me

When Allegra heads down to New Orleans to heal her wounds, she never expects to lose her heart to such a quiet, troubled man as Rousseau. She’s even less prepared for the scorching, sexual spirit within him—and what he can do to her…

Reclaim Me

Ben has loved Michelle as long as he can remember. But his beautiful artist has a way of running away from life—and what the pair could be. Leave it to the infamous sexual spirit to help Ben prove to Michelle where she belongs: in his embrace…

Redeem Me

It’s All Saints’ Day, the one day the voodoo spirit can walk the world in the flesh. When he bumps into Bethany, she might just be the reincarnation of a girl he once loved. Passion ignites, but can he overcome past mistakes and fall in love again?

Releases May 4, 2010. Author’s site here.

As the subject of people being adequately represented on covers is such a hot topic these days, I do like that the heroine’s ethnicity appears duly noted (whether it’s representative of an inside book description, we’ll have to wait and see). I’m also looking forward to reading this one.

Half-Navajo Janet Begay comes to Magellan to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the police chief’s daughter. But the people of Magellan sense that Janet is not what she seems, and they’re right.

Janet possesses extraordinary power which is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she’s caught in the storm’s evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can’t seem to touch with her powers. He can weild fire and not get burned, and Janet’s never sure where he goes when they’re not together.

Together they investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother’s people, the mythical gods from below the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.