One of the joys of summer reading is stocking up on plenty of paperbacks for your leisure time enjoyment,which is easily justified by the need for lightweight books to pack in your suitcase or beach bag. Of course,fewer folk are heading out to anywhere for a way to beat the heat but that doesn't mean that a tidy little sized mass market tome can't make it's way to your TBR pile.
In fact,paperbacks are more in demand now than ever and along side of such increasing need is a more ferocious appetite for escapist fantasy fare. As they used to say in the Reese cup ads,they're two great tastes that taste great together.
Don't get me wrong,I'm not calling all of this genre supernatural snack food,far from it. You need a solid base of storytelling to keep the lighter elements afloat and to drive the character development and action scenes forth in a compelling fashion. If anything,this is more like a buffet,where every taste is offered up for indulgence and sampling one dish over the other is simply a matter of choice.
One of my current delights has been checking out Atlantis Unleashed,the latest entry in Alyssa Day's Warriors of Poseidon series. The basic premise is that a devoted legion of Altantean residents fight to protect humanity from the vampires and shapeshifters ,who more recently have openly overrun the earth.
One of those men is Justice,who sacrificed his sanity to save his brother and family from the clutches of Anubisa,a vampire goddess. His plight is made even more poignant by unexpected contact with Keely McDemott,an archeologist whose psychic abilities may help to find the long lost Star of Artemis. That mission is fraught with a myriad of problems,not the least of which is the growing passion between them both.
This may sound a tad over the top,but trust me,there's some good snarky humor displayed by most of the characters(not to mention quite a few whip smart women in the mix) that offsets any traces of formulaic fantasy you may be on the lookout for.
Alyssa Day has a firm grasp of her imagined world and a great self confidence about her work as well;I won my autographed copy of Atlantis Unleashed via a Caption the Cover contest at Smart Bitches that was sponsored by Day and any writer who's more than willing to appreciate a few laughs at the cover art of her books is amazingly cool,in my opinion:
Another series that I've been getting into lately is Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson books,about a female mechanic who run with the wolves but is not truly one of them. Mercedes,aka Mercy,is a shapeshifter along the lines of the classic Native American skinwalkers who turns into a coyote.
She was raised by a werewolf pack and still is involved with them,along with having a cautious relationship with a whimsical bud deadly vampire who had his van painted like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and her former boss,a reluctantly public member of the fae.
The Mercy books are becoming popular enough that her newest title,Bone Crossed,was released in hardcover but since I haven't yet read Iron Crossed,there's no rush for me to go there just yet. There's time enough to explore all of the secrets and surprises awaiting me on this literary landscape:
One of my Summer Saga reads has been completed,along with a couple of other titles by Sherrilyn Kenyon(Sacajawea is going to take a bit longer,I suspect,but not from lack of interest or entertainment). Out of all of Kenyon's numerous series,the Dark Hunters novels really seem to be right up my alley.
Like Briggs,Kenyon's upcoming summer release(which will be highlighted in my July/August book preview next week)is set to be in hardcover but there are so many of her earlier titles that I haven't gotten to yet that the need to slow down before I move too fast into her realm of tormented avengers and clashes between Greek and Altantean gods and forget to come up for air.
The next batch of Kenyon's Dark Hunters awaiting me is a boxed set that contains Night Embrace,Dance with the Devil and Night Pleasures(good thing I finished up Fantasy Lover first,it's a great stand alone plus it does tie into the other books as well). Kenyon is an awesome and awe inspiring author whose fan following has been hard earned and paid for in plenty of rejection dues. She's certainly inspired me to keep on with my writing dreams:
Well,whatever paranormal pleasures you decide to enjoy this summer season,don't feel that you have to hide them away from the rest of the world. No matter how many eyebrows are raised,just tell your less than open minded friends that despite what they think,your books are not chick porn(unlike some of the stuff they've got tucked under the beds,no doubt):
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