Books on the incoming radar

Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong (30/08)
blurb:
Where angels fall from grace and demons fall…in love.
"Welcome to DEVIL's Paradise."
The arch demon’s voice was low and deep. His fingers caressed her through the fabric of her dress. “Your soul—or his, Serena. Choose.”
Fledging guardian angel and yoga teacher Serena St. Clair dares to enter Devil’s Paradise nightclub on a mission—to retrieve the wayward Hollywood “It Boy” she’s assigned to protect. But she’s ambushed by the club’s owner, arch demon Julian Ascher. The most powerful demonic entity in Los Angeles, Julian is handsome as sin, a master of temptation who loves nothing more than corrupting pleasure-seeking humans. He won’t release the lost soul Serena is supposed to guard. Unless she accepts his dangerous wager.…
After the disastrous way his human life ended, Julian vowed that no woman would get the better of him again.
Yet this sexy-sweet angel, smelling of fresh ocean air and happiness, triggers centuries-old feelings. Now, their high-stakes game of seduction, where angels fall from grace and where demons fear to tread, will lead them either to an eternity in hell…or a deliciously hot heaven.

A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day (4/10)
blurb:
First in a new series! Can a love that transcends death survive a war between angels, vampires, and lycans?
Adrian Mitchell is an angel of immense power and insatiable desire. Leading an elite Special Ops unit of the Seraphim, his task is to punish the Fallen--angels who have become vampires--and command a restless pack of indentured lycans.
But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals--losing the woman he loves again and again. Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her--Shadoe, her soul once more inhabiting a new body with no memory of him. Only this time he won't let her go.
With no memory of her past as Shadoe, Lindsay Gibson only knows she can't help being fiercely attracted to the smoldering, seductive male who crosses her path. Swept into a dangerous world of tumultuous passion and preternatural conflict, Lindsay is soon caught in the middle between her angel lover, her vampire father, and a full-blown lycan revolt. There's more at stake than her love and her life--this time she could lose her very soul...

Catch Me by Lorelie Brown (18/07)
blurb:
Arizona Territory, 1882
Maggie Bullock's father needed expensive medical care and if that meant stealing from their friendly swindling banker, so be it. Once her father was on the path to recovery she would face the consequences. The whole thing was surprisingly easy until she's kidnapped by bounty hunter Dean Colter.
Colter is tired of tracking down worthless scum. He's afraid he'll lose his last scrap of humanity and become a stone-cold killer, just like the men he brings to justice. He jumps at the chance to become sheriff of Fresh Springs, Arizona. The one condition-capture Maggie.
He figured it'd be easy. Until beautiful, loyal Maggie breaks through defenses he'd thought cemented. His feelings for her run the range from fury to confusion to love, but if he doesn't bring her in someone else will. Can there be a future between a sheriff and a fugitive?

Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl (30/8)
blurb:
With her sun-kissed hair and sparkling green eyes, Tessa Donovan looks more like the girl next door than
a businesswoman—or a heartbreaker. Which may explain why Detective Luke Asher barely notices her when he
arrives to investigate a break-in at her family’s brewery. He’s got his own problems—starting with the fact that
his partner, Simone, is pregnant and everyone thinks he’s the father.
Tessa has her hands full, too. Her brother’s playboy ways may be threatening the business, and the tension could tear her tight-knit family apart. In fact, the only thing that could unite the Donovan boys is seeing a man come after their baby” sister. Especially a man like Luke Asher. But Tessa sees past the rumors to the man beneath. He’s not who people think he is—and neither is she.

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter (30/8)
blurb:
Royal House of Shadows: Book I
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four
royal heirs…and time is running out…
Nicolai the Vampire was renowned for his virility, but in a twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” had become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remained was a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who could help him.
In her dreams, a wanton vampire called to Jane Parker, drawing her to his dark sexuality and his magical realm.
But for a human, all was not a fairy tale in Delfina. Jane was the key to Nicolai’s memory…but exploiting her
meant dooming the only mortal he craved.

Vipers Kiss by Shannon Curtis (25/7)
(Shannon is an Australian author who was very interesting at ARRA conference this year btw)
blurb:
Librarian Maggie Kincaid yearns for excitement-but being accused of espionage is not what she had in mind. Wanted by the police, the FBI and the criminal element, Maggie goes on the run-and runs straight into sexy Luke Fletcher. Unfortunately, when Luke pulls out the handcuffs, it's not because he has something kinky in mind...
Security expert Luke is intent on seeing the murderous spy known only as Viper brought to justice. The un-spy-like behavior of his fugitive makes him suspect he's apprehended the wrong woman. Just as they give in to lust, new evidence convinces Luke that Maggie's not as innocent as she claims to be.
Devastated by Luke's inability to trust her, Maggie runs again. She's determined to clear her name, and if that means tracking down a notorious spy even Interpol can't seem to locate, then that's exactly what she'll do...

I think I mentioned this next one in my current reads a post or two ago, but I must admit I am still excited about this book, and exploring what else Angry Robots has to offer.
Roil by Trent Jamieson (30/8)
blurb:
Shale is in trouble - the creature-infested darkness know as theRoil is expanding, consuming the land and swallowing up whole cities.
Where once there were 12 metropolises, now only 4 remain, and their borders are being threatened by the growing cloud of darkness. The only way to hold back the darkness and the horrific creatures that inhabit it are the cities huge ice canons. But one by one the defences are failing. And the Roil continues to grow.
With the land in chaos, it's up to a drug addict, an old man and a woman intent on revenge to try to save their city - and the world.
FILEUNDER: Steampunk [ Ice Canons | Clockwork Tech | Holding back the Tide |Unreliable Heroes ]

And last but definitely not least is the Women of the Mean Streets anthology from Bold Stroke. (16/8)
blurb:
Women. Crime. Justice. At least the search for it. On the mean streets, the back allies, the dark corners.
These are stories of tough women in hard places. The nights are long, the women are fast, and danger is always a short block or quick minute away.Edited by award winning author/editors J.M. Redmann and Greg Herren, Women of the Mean Streets is an anthology of some of the top, tough women crime writers today, noir stories with a lesbian twist.
J.M. Redmann haswritten five novels, all featuring New Orleans private detective Michele “Micky” Knight. Her third book, The Intersection of Law & Desire won a Lambda Literary Award. Lost Daughters and Deaths Of Jocasta were also nominated for Lambda Literary Awards. She currently resides in New Orleans.
Greg Herren is a New Orleans-based authorand editor. Former editor of Lambda Book Report, he is also a co-founder of the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, which takes place in New Orleans every May. He is the author of ten novels, including the Lambda Literary Award winning Murder in the Rue Chartres, called by the New Orleans Times-Picayune “the most honest depiction of life in post-Katrina New Orleans published thus far.” He co-edited Love,Bourbon Street: Reflections on New Orleans, which also won the Lambda Literary Award. He has published over fifty short stories in markets as varied as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine to the critically acclaimed anthology New Orleans Noir to various websites, literary magazines, and anthologies. His erotica anthology FRATSEX is the all time best selling title for Insightoutbooks. Under his pseudonym Todd Gregory, he published the bestselling erotic novel Every Frat Boy Wants It and the erotic anthologies His Underwear and Rough Trade.

June Reading

I have been in a bit of a funk this month, with minimal reading done, but a lot of grumpiness. :(

Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister made me laugh, and entertained me, but the second one, which will be listed in the next week, not so much. There were still the funny moments in Unbearable Lightness, but not enough other stuff happening... well not at a reasonable pace anyways.

Kisri by Moira Rogers - a short read, but fun. And hawt. And yes I am always spruiking the MR books, but they never fail to entertain me, whether I am deep in the land of reading funk or what, they never fail to make me smile and inhale the story.

I read another two Dakota Cassidy books, Accidentally Demonic, I think fell victim to my reading funk, and despite it having all the elements of Cassidy's work that i enjoy, it just didn't grab me. But My Way to Hell did grab me.

Chicks Kick Butt... well I am mostly finished it. Only one or two stories to go. But what I want to know is, what is it with anthologies lately? Are they now nothing but an advertising junket for ongoing series? The majority of these stories are part of larger ongoing series, ones I don't read. :( Which left me a bit in the dark on some of the stories, as I think the authors assumed that the reader would have some basic ideas of the world in which the story takes place.
That said though, it was mostly a reasonably entertaining read, even though part of me was crying bring back the standalone novella! throughout... My favourite stories were by Rachel Vincent and Elizabeth Vaughn, my least favourite, the Cheyenne McCray. (Though to be fair the first full novel of that series was a big DNF for me)

SIDE NOTE: What is it with authors not having full book information on their websites? I went to Vincent's site after reading her short to get more information on upcoming books, as I remembered how much I enjoyed her work, and all she has is book covers which link straight to Amazon, which is really not a great place for book detail. Apparently there is a new series coming out, but I couldn't find information about it on the site, though there was a book pic linked to Amazon, and again with no blooming info on A. - I deleted a rant about A poor book info site, are you proud Jen?? -
So she has lost some sales from this reader, though before you label me a totally cranky pants reader, which I am, I did also tweet her and asked about a blurb and got no response there either, so dollars stay in the pocket.

And those few are pretty much the only books I have finished this month. :(
Though things are looking up I am currently reading two books when I can find a spare moment:
An e-arc of Roil by Trent Jamieson from Angry Robot Books, this is a steampunk fantasy book. Jamieson is an Australian author, and one thing he can do extremely well is world-building, he has MAD SKILLS at this, and I am completely enamoured of the world he is building in this book... I just wish I could say the same of the characters, but I am in the early half of the book, so this may change.

The second e-arc is Firestorm by Radclyffe, this is a Lesbian contemporary romance. Contemporary is a bit outside my comfort zone, but Radclyffe is on my trusted author list, who has made me enjoy contemporaries before, so I haven't hesitated to start this. And within the first chapter she has me totally absorbed and wanting to find out all I can about the main characters.

So that is my month so far... I hope everyone else is having a much better time of reading than me this month!
- Please feel free to list some of your highlights for the month... I am extremely nosy about what everyone else is reading, it is always an interesting way to find new books/authors that I may have missed.

Question number two & three: Do you ever have reading funks? And do you have any tricks for getting out of them?

The slack blogger pops her head up briefly

Oh I has been bad!

But to be fair to myself, it has been a busy month or so, I have moved house - including a freakish large amount of books, despite the storage unit not moving. *headdesk*
And I just got back from the Australian Romance Readers Association convention in Sydney!
OMG So much fun, met a lot of the romance bloggers/twitterers, including some lovely authors. (Lexxie Couper and Cindy Gerard for the WIN!) I even managed to stutter at Nalini Singh, I think I may have been semi-incoherent but I think she got the fact that I love her books. LOL

I should really do a full run down on the awesomeness of the weekend, but I managed to bring back a car load of books from Sydney and all the stops along the way, and I need to get them up. (EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK)

Though I just wanted to do a shout out to the Australian Romance Readers Association for doing an awesome job, and to recommend any Aussie romance lovers who are not part of the association - what on earth is holding you back???
Here are their details:
ARRA
PO Box 7086
Greenway ACT 2900
www.australianromancereaders.com.au