The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton (Penguin Audiobooks, 2009)

5 Stars! Probably my favorite Anita Blake book yet! Choices were made, things were seen. And the mystery had a nice twist to it! Curious now to see where Ms. Blake will take the series. Especially since I see reviews up and down regarding where it goes. Definitely recommend!

Copied Blurb:
In The Killing Dance, vampire hunter Anita Blake finds herself the victim when a $500,000 price is put on her head, and the two men in her life - a vampire and a werewolf - aren't helping the situation.

My Rating: 5

Additional Audio Notes:
Publisher: Penguin Audio Books, 2009
Narrator: Kimberly Alexis

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (Brilliance Audio, 2006)

4 Stars! A suspenseful fay novel by my favorite Highlander author! I have been meaning to get to this series for a long while now. So glad I finally did!

My thoughts: The suspense was crafted masterfully.  The main character was developed well, even if I am still not sure whether I like her or not(She is pretty girly.) Moning's world building was done creatively, and slow enough to not throw everything to the reader at once.  That being said, though, I did find the pace of the first half of the book to be forgivably slower than other books I have read in the genre.

I will be listening to the next in the series as soon as I get a chance. There were a lot of loose ends(it is a series, after all) and quite a bit of foreshadowing. Very curious to see which direction Moning goes with the Fever series! Highly recommend!

My Rating: 4

Copied Blurb:
MacKayla Lane's life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she's your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she thinks...until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death - a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone - Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae...

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane - an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women - closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands...

Additional Audio Notes:
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Narrator: Joyce Bean (Seriously not the best choice for this book. Mac is a young woman, and Bean sounds like an older lady. Had to work my brain past that to really get into listening to the book)

This Side of the Grave: Night Huntress, Book 5 by Jeaniene Frost (Blackstone Audio, 2011)

5 Stars!  This series is still one of my all time favorites! I just love Cat and Bones, and their often intense interactions. Once again, Frost delivered an exciting plot while visiting a handful of characters I was looking forward to seeing again. The Night Huntress series rocks!!

Copied Blurb:

Danger waits on both sides of the grave...
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance.
With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war—to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

My Rating: 5

Additional Audio Notes:
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert (I think Tavia just gets better and better throughout this series!)

Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost (Blackstone Audio, 2010)

5 Stars! Books just don't get much better than this.  One of my favorite series ever! Looking forward to the next adventure with Bones and Cat!


Copied Blurb:
Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they’ve fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it’s time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She’s having visions of a vampire named Gregor, who’s more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn’t know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and won’t stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor’s hold over her. She’ll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she’s ever faced … even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

My Rating: 5

Additional Audio Notes:
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert (She does a fantastic job, as usual)

At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost (Blackstone Audio, Inc, 2010)

5 Stars!!   This series is amazing!!!  Love, love, love the characters!!

Copied Blurb:

Some things just won’t stay buried… at grave’s end.
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover, Bones, at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.
As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’ past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.
Love in vein: listen to more novels in the Night Huntress series.

My Rating: 5

Additional Audio Notes:
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert (Awesome narrator!!)