Reading in Reykjavík

Continuing on from yesterday: Blood and Prejudice by Susan Krinard Sub-genre: Contemporary Setting & time: USA, east coast, and England; modern times Level of sensuality: Kissing. There is no need to mention which Austen novel this story is based on, as the title speaks for itself. I also think it’s pretty clear that vampires are involved. Like in Northanger Castle , the plot is patterned after the plot of the original. The characters, those of them that are used (Charlotte Lucas, for one, is missing) are the same people as in Pride and Prejudice , with the same names and certain modifications appropriate to the modern setting. For one thing, Elizabeth is more active in trying to discover the truth about Darcy than she is in P&P, which is believable because, spirited and forward as she might have seemed to a contemporary of Austen’s in the original, she would seem rather docile and reserved showing the same behaviors in a modern setting, so that is all for the good....

I won this book in a giveaway last year (thanks, Janet!) and have finally got round to reading it. The premise of this anthology is for four modern authors to play with characters, themes and stories from Jane Austen novels. There are two historical stories and two modern ones, each taking inspiration from a different novel. I decided to review each story separately as I finished it and then give an opinion on the book as a whole. Since the review seems set to become somewhat long, I will divide it into two parts. The other part will be posted tomorrow. Genre: Paranormal romance Year of publication: 2010 Almost Persuaded by Mary Balogh Sub-genre: Historical Setting & time: England, Regency era Level of sensuality: Kissing plus one very short (and very flowery) sex scene. Mary Balogh has written some pretty good historical romances set in England during the Regency and Georgian eras. This, however, is her first venture into paranormal territory. The story she chos...

I hadn’t planned to review this book, but then I realised that not only was it a perfect fit for the Gothic reading challenge, but also that I had already reviewed the previous four books in the series, so why stop there? It fits the Gothic theme because much of the story seems to happen at night, in a medieval style castle (even if it does have electricity and hot and cold running blood water), parts happen on a medieval battlefield which is pretty damn scary, there are vampires involved and supernatural threats, there is considerable angst, and there is cloak-and-dagger villainy that threatens the heroine (who, however, is no shrinking violet and is fully capable of defending herself). Intro, necessary for understanding of some of the below. Cue a bad Christopher Lee vocal imitation doing the starting voiceover to an episode of The Dark and the Dangerous : "The Darkyn were once people, but centuries ago they became infected with an organism that stopped their ageing process...

Click image to read about the challenge My second Gothic Reading Challenge book, but the first to be reviewed. I’m working on the review for the other one. Fits the Gothic theme because: a lot of it takes place at night, there are vampires, ghosts and demons involved, there is angst, the heroine shows some genuine Too Stupid To Live behaviour (a required plot element in the Gothic novels of old), and the hero is tall, dark and dangerous, and was alive during the Gothic era. Genre: Urban fantasy, romance Year of publication: No. in series: 2 Setting & time: London, UK; contemporary Inexperienced Summoner Allegra Telford is in London to prove she can summon and bind ghosts when she begins to have dreams about a wounded, bleeding man. Coming across him for real wasn’t in the bargain, but she does and is swept into an adventure involving ghosts, demons and Moravian Dark Ones (aka “my vampires must be unique” by any other name). There are hardships to overcome and the rew...

Genre : Urban fantasy/paranormal romance Series and no. : Darkyn, # 4 Year of publication : 2007 Setting & time : Rural France, England, Ireland and the USA; contemporary Darkyn lord Gabriel Seran is the prisoner of the Brethren, a religious sect dedicated to eliminating the Darkyn. Chained to a cross and walled in down in the basement of an old chapel on the grounds of his former estate in France, he feels abandoned by the other Darkyn, but is honour-bound to protect their secrets. Meanwhile, burglar Nicola Jefferson is searching for a particular relic in the chapels and churches of Europe while stealing such treasures as she finds and selling them to finance the search. She has also freed a number of imprisoned Darkyn, but when she frees Gabriel something feels different. Meanwhile, the Darkyn king has imprisoned Dr. Alexandra Keller ( If Angels Burn ) in his stronghold in Ireland, forcing her to search for a cure for the affliction that is slowly turning him into a mutant. ...

Genre : Urban fantasy/paranormal romance Series and no. : Darkyn, # 3 Year of publication : 2006 Setting & time : Miami, Florida, USA; contemporary Homicide detective Samantha Brown is a dedicated police officer living with the memory of a shooting that nearly killed her and is plagued by the fear that the colleague who was stalking her, and who she is certain was behind the shooting, will come back to finish the job. She meets the mysterious Lucan when the only clue to a horrific murder is a replica of a medieval cross bearing his name. Lucan, once a powerful Darkyn assassin and now a nightclub owner in Miami, is immediately attracted to Samantha, but he has a job to do and can’t allow himself to love her. Additionally there is a mutated, insane Kyn on the prowl and the religious fanatics who pose a threat to the Kyn are nearby and preparing to attack. Lucan was a minor villain in the first book, If Angels Burn . He has a powerful talent: he can kill any living being with ...

Genre: Romance, paranormal thriller Year of publication: 2010 Setting & time: Ohio, USA, 1992 Andie Miller is trying to tie up some loose ends in her life before accepting her boyfriend's proposal of marriage, but when she goes to see her ex-husband, North Archer, to return to him 10 years worth of uncashed alimony checks, he surprises her by offering her a hefty sum of money to go and look after his wards, two orphaned children, in an isolated house for a month. The children seem afraid to leave the house and the last nanny who went to look after them fled, claiming it was haunted. Andie immediately clashes with the creepy housekeeper and discovers that there are indeed ghosts in the house. When various people, including North, a ratings-hungry TV reporter, a sceptical parapsychologist and a psychic, descend on the house with different purposes in mind, the ghosts get restless, and it is going to take more than just a séance to put things to rights. This is not the ...

From the book: He found the fact that she hid the candy and the books in her desk rather endearing. He had even read one of the books— Pride and Prejudice —although he had thought many of the heroine’s problems could have been solved if someone had simply strangled her mother. Genre: Urban fantasy/paranormal romance Year of publication: 2005 No. in series: 2 Setting & time: Chicago, USA; contemporary Darkyn (i.e. vampire) Thierry Durand, cured in body but not in mind after the horrific events described in If Angels Burn , has escaped from captivity and arrives in Chicago, full of angst and knowing that he cannot be sure of being able to control himself from going totally berserk when met with difficult situations. He feels like he needs to redeem himself for past events and plans to start by exacting revenge on a group of men who mutilated a young protégé of the doctor who healed him. In Chicago, heiress Jema Shaw is trying to live a normal life in the shadow of ...

I found the first two books in this series at the library, and dearly hope they will buy the remaining six in the series. I feel I need to read these books because I think that while Viehl has done a good job of making the spin-off Kyndred books that I have been reading independent of the Darkyn books, I feel I need to know more about the world and background they take place in. Year published: 2005 Series and no.: Darkyn, #1 Genre: Urban fantasy, paranormal romance Setting & time: Chicago and New Orleans, USA, with scenes in Rome, Italy; 2000’s Chicago reconstructive surgeon Dr. Alexandra Keller repeatedly refuses to see an out-of town patient despite his increasingly urgent and generous offers of reimbursement, because she doesn’t want to leave the patients under her care for the time it would take to examine him and do the surgery in New Orleans, which he is not willing to leave. But Michael Cyprien is not used to people saying ‘no’ to him and has her kidnapped and brought to...

I bought this book yesterday, started reading it once I got home, and didn't put it down until I had finished. Year published: 2010 Series and no.: Kyndred, #2 Genre: Urban fantasy, romance Setting & time: New York city, USA; 2000’s Shape-shifter Rowan Dietrich arrives in New York, almost as if drawn there. She’d had an unhappy childhood there, first with abusive foster parents and then as a street child, and really just wants to visit the graves of some old friends before heading onwards to Boston and the job that awaits her there. A motorbike accident throws her in the path of alluring and mysterious chef Jean-Marc Dansant, who (not entirely out of the kindness of his heart) gives her a job at his restaurant, lends her an apartment and arranges to have her neighbour, the sexy but hostile Sean Meriden, repair the bike for her. Rowan finds herself drawn to both men, but finds it hard to decide which one she wants more, and so the tension between then begins to mount. Meanwhi...

When the publishing date of this book was pushed forward, it left Lynn Viehl’s publisher unable to print and send out advance reading copies (known in the publishing industry simply as ARCs), Lynn decided to take matters into her own hands and offered the readers of her blog, Paperback Writer a chance to read the book by sending out e-ARCS, in exchange for reviews (the offer has now expired). This book will be in bookshops on October 6th. This is the first book in a spin-off series from the Darkyn books by Viehl, featuring some characters readers of that series will be familiar with. Year published: 2009 (coming in October) Genre: Urban fantasy Series: The Kyndred (#1) Setting & time: (mostly) Atlanta, Georgia; contemporary. For those who want to be totally surprised by this book: potential SPOILERS coming up. …. … .. . .. … …. The Story: Jessa Bellamy has a psychic talent that has helped her build a business that screens job applicants for companies, but someone has discover...

Year published: 2003 Genre: Paranormal romance, mystery Setting & time: The Czech Rebublic, modern timeless The Story: Joy Randall doesn’t believe in the existence of vampires. Nevertheless, she humours her best friend Roxy – who does believe – and goes with her to the Czech Republic to seek them out. The vampires Roxy wants to find are the “dark ones”, tortured but not really evil vampires that best-selling author C.J. Dante writes about. These dark ones are always male, and they can be saved from eternal damnation only if they find their Beloved , human women who are their soul-mates. Almost immediately after they arrive, one of those dark ones makes mental contact with Joy, and she has recurring visions where she shares his feelings and he calls her his beloved. He has to be one of the three men who are fighting for her attention, but which one? There is gorgeous Dominic, the owner of a travelling goth fair; handsome, smart, likeable Christian, a local resident; and tall, sex...

Genre: Paranormal romance Year of publication: 2004 Setting & time: Toronto, Canada; present day Some themes: Love, jealousy, madness, sex Story: Rachel Garrett has been stuck on the night shift in the morgue for three years and thinks it sucks. A madman is stalking Etienne Argeneau and trying to kill him, 1) out of professional jealousy and, 2) because Etienne is a vampire and the stalker has watched too many episodes of Buffy . One night, after a nearly successful assassination, Etienne is brought to the morgue with a bullet in his heart and Rachel saves his life by pulling it out. The second time they meet is when he is again brought in, and this time the stalker has followed and when he tries to behead Etienne, Rachel gets in the way and is mortally wounded and Etienne turns her into a vampire to save her life. At first she is incredulous and thinks she must be comatose and dreaming, but then she begins to accept what has happened and she and Etienne enter into a sexual re...