Book Review: Vampire Vacation by C.J. Ellisson

Title: Vampire Vacation (The V.V. Inn #1)
Author: C.J. Ellisson
Publisher: R.H. Publishing
Release Date: 10/10/2010
ISBN: 9780982661000







While there have been a lot of vampire books flooding the market, I can safely say that I haven’t seen a novel combine vampires, sex, mystery, AND innkeeping. Shoot, I’ve never seen a vampire hotel themed book before, so that element alone intrigued me.

Ancient vampire Vivian runs an Alaskan inn that caters to an ultra exclusive crowd, specializing in erotic pleasures. Money can’t buy your way in, nor will wearing the right clothing. No, to gain a room in this hotel you have to be an owner of a pair of fangs or at least be traveling with someone who does. Vivian’s pretty happy to spend her days quietly in the cold North, hiding her true powers from those would have her dead. When a dead body is found in one of the hotel rooms & old threats from the past threaten to re-emerge, it is going to take Vivian’s entire arsenal to figure out what is going on & to keep her precious peace from being disturbed.

Liberally sprinkling generous portions of red hot sex scenes in with a mystery that is slow to reveal its secrets, Ellisson gives the audience the usual vampire powers with just enough new additions to make the book interesting. Having a vampire run a hotel just for her fanged counterparts to freely romp in is something that isn’t usually seen, which works surprisingly well.

The only downfall of the book is that there’s a LOT of back story going on here, so much that some readers will wonder if they’ve picked up the second book in a series or if there are previous books out there further detailing Vivian’s exploits. Ellisson does her best to elaborate on Vivian’s past in brief glimpses, but it will still leave some readers feeling like they’re being left a little in the dark & looking for prequel novels.

Overall, this is a decent first novel by Ellisson. There are a few rough spots to work out here & there (mostly dealing with Vivian’s past as noted above), the spicy & lovingly written sex does make up for it.

I will let you guys know that while there is going to be a sequel dealing with things mentioned at the end of the book, the author has told me that there will be a prequel to the novels dealing with Vivian's past. So fear not- we'll eventually get a novel dealing with all of the past mentioned in the book!

(Reader copy provided by author)

Book Review: In Darkness Bound by Christine Price

Title: In Darkness Bound
Author: Christine Price
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 09/13/2010
eISBN: 9781426890574








As always, I’m going to warn readers that the pairings in this book are M/M & M/M/M. If you don’t care for pairings of this nature then this will probably not be the book for you. That said, on with the show!

Chris has always been different. He’s been all too aware of that ever since his brother died when they were very young- a death that Chris feels that his strange abilities were responsible for. When Chris is suddenly abducted & forced to take part in sadistic tests given by a doctor gone mad, his only saving grace will be found in two men. One is a patient with a strange craving. The other is a patient turned orderly, the only worker there with any portion of sanity & mercy. As the confines of the cramped prison as well as the influence of the doctor & a strange, evil patient begin to hammer away at Chris’s sanity, it becomes all too apparent that the only way to survive will be to escape.

Believe me; I’m not giving the story premise justice. This book really does seem to have just about everything: mystery, suspense, sex, love, evil… it’s all in here. There’s a lot in this book that’s enjoyable. Price does a fine job of making the reader guess as to what is going on & what will happen next. I have to admit that there were several parts to the story that I really couldn’t predict, which I love. I love being surprised. Readers will also love that the interactions between the men flows so naturally between the two & the erotic scenes (which are short but explicit) do seem to fit with the surrounding story.

The only downfall with the story is that towards the end it just seemed to unravel a bit & as a result, lacked the punch I was expecting from it. I can’t go into a huge amount of detail without spoiling it, but I was kind of expecting a little more of a confrontation between some of the characters & I was slightly disappointed that it never came. (I say slightly because the ending hints that there could easily be a sequel- lots of unfinished business at the end of this book!)

Overall though, this was an incredibly fun read that I gobbled down in a day & if Price does decide to return to this universe (oh please oh please oh please!), I’m definitely planning on tracking it down. I’m just curious to know more about this universe, the characters, & how the unfinished plot elements will be resolved in the future.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee

Title: Demon's Fall
Author: Karalynn Lee
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 10/25/2010
ISBN: 9781426890680








One thing I will have to warn people about is that this is a very short story, only taking up about 70 pages. For some the events in this story will happen a little too quickly & they'll long for just a little bit more detail, mostly because this is a rich world that Lee has spun & they want just a little more depth to everything.

Kenan is an incubus, a demon who seduces human women out of their souls, forgetting about them once the challenge is done & over with. When he comes across the angel Jahel in the marketplace at Hellsgate he has the unbearable urge to touch her. Sure that her soul would make an intriguing addition to his collection of souls, Kenan promptly purchases the angel with the intent on slowly seducing her our of her soul. He's sure that a little kindness, as well as helping Jahel find the soul she came almost all this way to find, will help his natural incubus seduction skills. What he didn't plan on was losing his heart.

As a short story this tale both works & doesn't work at times. What works in this story is that Lee has created an intriguing world full of possibilities. The idea of a stolen soul turning into a coin (leaving the former owner alive) & using it as currency in the demon world is something that many readers will find a nice touch. What also works is the heat that Lee has made between our two main characters- it's very tangible, very erotic, & for the most part comes across rather naturally (as natural as it can be for a demon & an angel).

What doesn't work is mostly due to the short length of the story. Jahel & Kenan have an almost instant attraction to each other & don't seem to fight it, something that might irk some readers. The plot for this story moves along at an almost lightening speed & while this is a good story, many will just wish that Lee had stretched the story out a little longer just so she could have explored more of the potential of this world & its inhabitants. Some parts of it just felt a little underdeveloped.

Overall though, this is a pretty decent story & one that will thrill many readers. I hope that this story is merely a setup for more stories to come, as developing all of this for one 70-ish page story would sort of be a bit of a waste. This was a fun story to read (especially with the Snow White references), so I would recommend this for most romance readers out there.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Coming Clean by Inez Kelley

Title: Coming Clean
Author: Inez Kelley
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 08/30/2010
ASIN: B003U89S8O







WARNING: This book contains lots & lots of sex & adult situations, so it's not appropriate for all audiences!

I'm just giving you guys a head's up- this story is firmly in the erotica genre, so there's a lot of sex involved in the story. The pairings in this book are M/F, M/M, & M/M/F, so if you don't like same sex pairings then this might not be the story for you. With that warning in mind, on with the review!

Grant & Vivi have a seemingly perfect marriage. They keep no secrets, they play together well... and they both seem to have a not so hidden desire for Grant's childhood friend Cade. When Vivi asks Grant to help fulfill her secret fantasy to have both men in her bed at once, Grant is initially a little shy but warms to the idea quickly. After all, he & Cade have a bit of a history, an encounter in their youth that he's remembered all too vividly- something that Vivi is aware of & is driving her reasons for requesting the threesome. But can friendships & marriage survive the encounter?

This is a wonderfully sizzling read. The sex scenes are so wonderfully written that it'll bring more than a little blush to your cheeks & quicken your pulse! Readers will love that Kelley has not only managed to bring these wonderful sex scenes to the book, but that she also manages to convey a bit of story to it as well. Part of what made the short story work so well for me is that Kelley made sure to focus on the non-sexual parts of a threesome- the fear that this might drive a wedge into a relationship as well as focusing on the trust & love necessary to make such an arrangement work.

The only thing that sort of threw me was that once in a while the story jumped to other points in time quite suddenly, making me have to flip back a few pages to see if a day had passed or if this was just a flashback. This might be because the story is quite short (only about 90 pages long), but rest assured- this doesn't hurt the story any.

I can't help but hope that Kelley gives us a story about this group again in the future. There's plenty of story potential for these three. This was a wonderfully written story that fans of hot fiction will be sure to love!

(Reader's copy provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Alison's Wonderland by Alison Tyler & others

Title: Alison's Wonderland
Author/Editor: Alison Tyler
Publisher: Spice
Release Date: 07/01/2010
ISBN: 0373605455





Have I ever told you how much I love you, Harlequin? Because I do. Completely & totally. I want to thank you for not only putting out a collection of well written erotic stories, but putting out erotic stories based on & inspired by some of the best loved fairy tales out there. The only problem? Well, several readers are going to find it hard to put this away & others might not realize how incredibly difficult it is to write erotica. (Hey, you try writing a sex scene & find ways to describe the same body parts & actions without repeating yourself!)

Alison's Wonderland is a compilation of erotic stories written by several different authors, each of which lend their own personal style & tastes to this exotic blend. There's stories here based on Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, Red Riding Hood- even the Billy Goats Gruff! (Don't worry, there's no goats in that story, although there is a woman with the last name of Troll!)

I'll warn people that if they don't like a good heaping of BDSM, they might want to skip a few of the stories in the book. (Hey, some people like it, some don't.) No worries though- Tyler made sure to include just about everyone's tastes in this book. It also doesn't hurt that she also made the book cover into something that you can openly display on your shelf without worrying about anyone looking at it & immediately thinking "oh, porn on display". What will really intrigue readers is that Tyler tries to make sure that she collected stories that have deeper meanings to them. Whether it's Belle finding the will to assert herself or two women finding love with each other, it is nice to see that these stories have more to them than just sex.

While I'll admit that I didn't fall in love with every story in this book, I will say that I did love the book as a whole. Readers will find this book a scintillating read that they'll be returning to time & time again! You'll read through it once for the hot sex, but you'll come back for the wonderful tales of people claiming their own personal freedoms (sexual and otherwise) and/or finding that one person that's just for them!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)