Karen Marie Moning's Fever series

The Fever series really blurs the lines between ro no and sci fi/fantasy. KMM created a modern, paranormal world so engaging you actually read FIVE books before your HEA. Proceeding from the world of the fae that Moning introduced us to in her earlier Highlander books, Darkfever kicks off when the fae are really taking over and things are heating up in Ireland. MacKayla Lane, our naive, bimbo heroine, sets off to Ireland to avenge her sister, and quickly becomes the only hope for the human race. She also quickly morphs into much more than a bimbo, and she encounters some hunks who are much more than your run of the mill ro no heroes. There are a lot of Irish words I pronounced in my head very differently then they should be pronounced. Unlike other series posts, I will only list the order of the books here, and send you on your way. A mini summary would have to include spoilers, and the way the plot unfolds in this series is so amazing that I don't want to do anything to mar your enjoyment of it! Each book continues the story and progresses the romance between MacKayla and the various potential suitors in her life (one of KMM's strengths is that you never know quite which hottie you're rooting for). I found these books deeply satisfying - enough that I've read the series a few times. That said, if you're not hooked by the first book, this series isn't for you.

Book Order
Darkfever 2007
Bloodfever 2008
Faefever 2009
Dreamfever 2010
Shadowfever 2011

The book Iced, 2012 is part of the Fever world but features Mac's sidekick, Dani. A 13 year old girl. In the Fever world. It is...uncomfortable. At first KMM said Iced was a young adult book, but when it came out she backtracked considerably - this book is still as graphic and sexy as the rest of the Fever series! Dani is more sex-adjacent than I felt entirely comfortable with, but I wholly admit I am a prude about teenagers and their sexuality. You've been warned!

E Rating: 5 stars      H Rating: 5 stars

Stand out book: Shadowfever

What is so appealing about YA?!

Just a general kvetching post about how our favorite authors are heeding the call to write Young Adult - what jerkwad is making that call?! I think there are plenty of YA authors, ladies, get your pens back to writing ro nos for the adult woman! Authors guilty of this sin include:

• Kresley Cole Arcana Chronicles
• Sherry Thomas The Elemental Trilogy
• Sherrilyn Kenyon Chronicles of Nick

It is starting to feel like a creepy conspiracy. You don't have to be the next Stephenie Meyer if you already have a fan following!

Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark (IAD) Series

IAD is another para ro-no series that includes its own glossary and alternative world (the Lore) hiding in plain sight around all of us humans. Kresley Cole started the series strong, and is losing ground over time, IMO. But I'm sucked into the general plot enough that I will keep reading. The books all suffer the same contrivance - these paranormal species are drawn to each other through a force beyond their control. Thus, they MUST mate, but they may in fact hate each other. It is a good way to ensure you have plenty of sex scenes from start to finish, all while the actual love story unfolds. As a result, many of her romances have some coercive/violent sex scenes that rub me the wrong way. She gets around this by making all the characters super powered so we're not supposed to care too much that they sometimes beat the crap out of each other. All the same, this is the weakest thing about the series (oh, along with the titles. These are some of the worst titles EVER!!!!). Most of them feature this little gang of Valkyrie who scream a lot, drink, swear, and play video games. Fun times.

Series Order

The Warlord Wants Forever - a great kick-off to the series, buried in a collaboration called "Playing Easy to Get." E's husband is still mad for making him pick this up for her at the library. The rest of the stories in the anthology are awful. Nikolai Wroth, the human turned vampire, falls hard for Myst the Coveted, a pretty (lame) valkyrie.

A Hunger Like No Other - Emmaline the half vamp-Valkyrie and Lachlain MacReive, the head of the werewolves meet, do some violence to each other, and then fall in love.

No Rest for the Wicked - Yowza Sebastian Wroth! And Kaderin is pretty fun, too.

Wicked Deeds on a Winter Night - Sexy werewolf meets sultry witch (Bowen & Mari).

Dark Needs at Night's Edge - Another Wroth brother meets his match. Sadly, not great. Featuring Conrad and snoozefest Neomi the ghost.

Deep Kiss of Winter - This is an anthology that includes the story Untouchable - The last Wroth, Murdoch, is mated to an Ice Princess Valkyrie, Daniela. Meh. Not critical to the series, but entertaining.

Dark Desires After Dusk - Cadeon & Holly - demons! Valkyrie who think they're human!

Kiss of a Demon King - Sabine the sorceress & Rydstrom the demon king - HOT HOT HOT. Also, an oddly appropriate title.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince - Lucia the Valkyrie archer, and Garreth MacRieve, another werewolf. This was just ok.

Demon from the Dark - Malkolm, a vemon, and Carrow, a witch, face off in this surprisingly tender romance. I was desperately awaiting the Regin book, and then KC threw this one in the mix. And then it turned out to be way better then the Regin one.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior - the beloved Regin the Radiant, a valkyrie, and Aidan, the Berserker that has stalked her through a number of reincarnations. I anticipated this book for a long time, and was disappointed with how it played out.

Lothaire- by this point, KC is getting stuff into hard cover, and it is too bad that Lothaire had such a huge release and was SO bad. Lothaire is with some human who is possessed by a demoness? Seriously off the rails...

Shadow's Claim - this book starts a series within the IAD series, the Dacian Chronicles. My expectations were low and it definitely did NOT exceed my expectations, so you know what that means. Features Trehan Daciano and Princess Bettina.

MacRieve - Chloe Todd, a human (and then some) and another MacRieve, a tortured and prejudiced werewolf get together and show each other how love can overcome bigotry.

Dark Skye is coming in August 2015 and I'm excited (it takes a long time to shake my loyalty!).  Thornos and Lanthe, characters we've been hearing about for awhile, are finallllllly getting it on. Hopefully some loose story lines will resolve AND we'll get some steamy romance!

E Rating: 4 stars      H Rating: 4 stars

Stand out book: No Rest for the Wicked

J. R. Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" Series

Of course we're going to have a BDB review! This is one of the most popular paranormal rono series out there (para-ro-no?). It takes place in the modern world and is about (gasp!) vampires! The stories center around the warriors of the vampire race - the Black Dagger Brotherhood - who fight against another non-human race who are trying to kill them. Not only are the members (and associates) of the BDB big & strong, they're also (very much) down to get the friction on. Also keep your eyes peeled for a little of the ol' "Brother-on-Brother" action.

The sex scenes are delectable, but I could do without EVERY hero being so damn tortured. Part of the appeal is that JR Ward creates this engaging world (complete with a glossary of terms) with multidimensional characters and a fast moving plot. Each book has one main romance, but there is a lot more going on, and it is nice to revisit the characters you love over and over. I also like that it isn't just a neat and tidy "now they're together, DONE" as you see in future books that a lot of the couples are still navigating their relationships. 

Distractingly hilarious quirks? Shitkickers; "beat feet"; relentless shower taking; convenient vampire servants who neatly circumvent having to explain how this parallel world exists all around us; similarly, the made-up city of Caldwell that for some dumb reason singlehandedly homes most of the vampires AND most of their enemies (like, dude, you can teleport, why the hell don't you spread yourselves around so your enemies can't pick you off so easily?!); and the idea that these male vampires have 30 orgasms in one sexual encounter - half of which likely occurs with no touching them while they are wearing leather pants. EWWWW.

Dark Lover, 2005 - Wrath, the Blind King, and Beth, the half-breed daughter of Darius

Lover Eternal, 2006 - Rhage and Mary, a human (who we pretty much never see again the rest of the series. Bizarro).

Lover Awakened, 2006 - Zsadist, the super tortured twin vamp and Bella, a surprisingly normal female vamp, given the cast of characters in this series.

Lover Revealed, 2007 - Butch, the human cop, and Marisa, a female vamp and Wrath's former mate sort of thing. This book ends (somewhat abruptly) a minor story line on the vampire's enemy.

Lover Unbound, 2007 - Vishous, the bi-curious kinky vamp, and Jane, the human trauma MD. A satisfying start to a their relationship, but mostly the overall BDB story line starts to really take off in this book.

Lover Enshrined, 2008 - Phury, Zsadist's twin, and Cormia, a Chosen. Ugh, this story is so boring. Mostly because Phury sucks, but also the love story is super weak. Thankfully we get a lot of interesting background plot in this one.

Lover Avenged, 2009 - Rhevenge, who is a vampire, but not in the BDB, and Ehlena, a female vamp. This book of lovers with extra 'h's in their name starts another big story arc that ends in Lover Mine.

Lover Mine, 2010 - John Matthew, our beloved special needs vamp, and Xhex, a female vamp, and Rhevenge's right hand. We see more of Wrath and Beth in this one. By this point, you are so sucked in to the series you whip through each massive tome in a day and then yearn for an entire year until the next one comes out.

Lover Unleashed, 2011 - Payne, a female Chosen, and Manny, a human MD and Jane's old coworker (and who's name is basically Manny Manny and no one ever mentions it). We get a lot of Vishous in this book, but then the story arc sort of disappears.

Lover Reborn, 2012 - Thorment, the widower, and No'One, a female vamp with a past. This was supposed to be the conclusion of the series, but definitely does not end anything. A lot of the characters have had progressing story lines from the 3rd book in, and we still haven't seen things conclude for them. Word on the street is another book is on the way...

Lover at Last, 2013. Wow, JR Ward is not just hinting at the the "Brother-on-Brother" action in this one - we finally see what happens with  John Matthew's best friends, Qhuinn and Blay.


The King, 2014. A totally unexpected release - and featuring Wrath and Beth again. The book ends with FOUR separate romances that leave us wondering what the heck is coming next?!

E Rating: 4 stars    H Rating: 4 stars  

Stand out book: They are all pretty awesome with the exception of Lover Enshrined - SNORE