New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward appeases her many fans with her latest novel, Blood Vow, the second installment in her Black Dagger Legacy, the spin-off series from the popular Black Dagger Brotherhood novels.

Vampire warrior trainee Axe is a loner, a man without family or social status. Beautiful, brilliant Elise is Axe’s exact opposite—a rich aristocrat. When Elise’s father fears for her safety, he hires Axe to guard her, and the powerful attraction between Elise and Axe blazes out of control. Axe knows he should keep her out of his dark world, but Elise needs his protection, and neither can obey the rules that would keep them apart. Loyal and fierce, Axe will risk death to save a Brother, and a shocking turn of events means putting everything on the line for both Axe and Elise. Can this couple face their deepest fears and find happiness together, or are they destined to be torn apart?

Nail-biting action scenes, hot romance and a hero and heroine readers will cheer for make this novel a stellar read. A secondary plot involving fan favorites Rhage and Mary gives readers a fascinating look into the ongoing lives of the original Black Dagger Brotherhood. Ward pulls out all the stops with this latest novel, including teasing readers with a hint at future plot lines. If you’re looking for nonstop action, steamy sexual tension, heart-wrenching emotion and absorbing characters, this excellent book is for you.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

Sandra Hill returns to her Deadly Angels paranormal romance series with Good Vampires Go to Heaven, in which a battle between good and evil is heralded by a double agent vampire demon determined to earn his wings and the vampire angel sent to help him.

Zeb is thousands of years old, a hybrid breed of vampire and demon dubbed Lucipires. His role is turning sinners into beings like him, filling the ranks and growing their numbers to fight against the good guys—the vampire angels. However, Zeb has been playing both sides of the field, secretly working with the Archangel Michael. More than anything, Zeb wants to earn a pair of wings and no longer be considered evil. But when his deception is discovered, Zeb is tossed into a fortified demon dungeon.

Enter Regina, a vampire angel—or Vangel—on a mission to bust Zeb out of prison. He’s an asset to the cause, and the Vangels want Zeb on their side. Not only does Regina perform a successful prison break, she also gets more than she bargained for as she releases three quirky, witchy Lucipires along with Zeb. However, no one could have guessed that their actions will spark the ultimate battle of good and evil.

An amazingly tense will-they-or-won’t-they romance.

Though technically Zeb is a card-carrying member for the bad guys, his earnestness and quest for goodness will have readers rooting for him every step of the way. His frustration is palpable once he gets locked away, worried that the Lucipires will win and all his work will have been for nothing. Regina is a perfect partner for Zeb. She is powerful, confident and hoping to prove her worth to Archangel Michael.

Both Zeb and Regina have a sneaking suspicion there’s more to their meeting, believing they’re each other’s life mates. But with the enemy breathing down their neck, it’s never quite the right time to explore their chemistry, leading to an amazingly tense will-they-or-won’t-they romance.

Fans of the Deadly Angels series will be happy to see characters from the previous books, though readers new to Sandra Hill’s paranormal romances won’t have any trouble being swept away in this action-packed, supernatural adventure. With a strong hero and heroine, entertaining secondary characters and a death-defying battle between good and evil, Good Vampires Go to Heaven is definitely a romance with bite. 

Lynsay Sands returns to her beloved, long-running Argeneau series with a down-on-her-luck heroine, a vampire hero and the serendipitous circumstance of being stranded on a tropical island in Immortal Nights.

Abigail Forsythe needs to restart her life. After leaving medical school and spending most of her savings on taking care of her ailing mother, Abigail feels lost once her mother dies. She needs some time to figure her life out, and with the help of a generous friend, she finds herself taking a rather impromptu trip on a small plane. Her friend can get her on the plane, but she has to settle for hiding in the hold with the cargo. Unexpectedly, the cargo is the undead kind, namely the vampire Tomasso Notte.

Tomasso has been kidnapped, and his kidnappers stowed the immortal away, naked and knocked out cold. When Abigail discovers him, she knows she has to do the right thing and help him. While Tomasso recognizes Abigail as his savior, she’s also something else: his life mate.

Their only possibility for escape is to jump out of the small plane, so Abigail and Tomasso plunge into the waters below and begin their fight for survival. Abigail needs food and water, of course, but they’ll both have to outlast Tomasso’s growing hunger while keeping Abigail off the menu.

Abigail’s journey from being a woman adrift in her own life to being a strong, confident woman is touching, and her depression during this what-to-do-next phase of life is relatable. Tomasso is protective without being overbearing. He shows Abigail the spark that her life has been missing as the two discover a sizzling bond and make their way across the island in hopes of finding help.

Though packing in plenty of suspense, Immortal Nights isn’t without Sands’ typical dash of humor. Immortal Nights has everything fans of the Argeneau series have come to love: a smart heroine in an unexpected situation and a hero who is a drool-worthy mix of tender and courageous.

MaryJanice Davidson begins her new Insighter series with Deja Who, an inventive urban fantasy with dangerous reincarnations, a no-nonsense heroine and Davidson’s much-loved brand of silly, off-the-wall humor.

Leah is an Insighter. She can see people’s past lives, and clients often come to her in order to exorcise troublesome past selves—murderers, thieves and other bad souls—who are wreaking havoc in their current life. Only when a soul learns his or her lesson, breaking the cycle of crime or other bad habits, will they be reborn “tabula rasa,” or with a clean slate.

While Leah helps clients struggling with pesky previous incarnations, she must be wary of her own past as well. In several of her past lives, she’s been killed, and she knows her killer is out to find her again. But this time, she wants to break the cycle.

P.I. Archer Drake has been tailing Leah for a while, hired by her toxic helicopter mom to keep an eye on her. The more he watches Leah, the more he realizes how isolated and lonely she seems—and the more he falls in love with her. When he finally approaches her, a friendship slowly blossoms into something more. Leah is attracted to Archer’s earnestness and his goofy sense of humor. There’s also the fact that he’s potentially tabula rasa, which proves intriguing.

Once Leah reveals to Archer that she’s destined to be killed, he joins her mission in outwitting her would-be killer. The biggest hurdle is that they do not know what form her killer will take. It could be a friend or a stranger—once, it was even her own mother.

The world of reincarnation Davidson has created is fascinating, and the romance between Leah and Archer is pleasant to read. She’s the stoic, firm voice of reason, while he’s the sensitive beta hero who finds himself falling for the heroine. Fans of Davidson’s soon-ending Undead series will be anxious to jump into Leah’s world.

USA Today bestselling author Kristen Callihan brings us Forevermore, the seventh and final book in her paranormal Darkest London series. Sin Evernight is the second most powerful Judgment Angel in Victorian England. He is also a dedicated loner—until the night he chases a cloaked creature he discovers hovering over a dead body. It’s small and fast—and when he does catch it, it explodes from his grasp in a murmuration of starlings.

Layla Starling doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. Back in London after losing the voice that made her a sensation across the European Continent, she finds herself behaving in ways she doesn’t recognize. She’s stronger than she has ever been and is intensely drawn to the scent of other people’s blood. The latter she has experienced before. Now, however, it is so much more compelling, that it greatly disturbs her. But when she is reunited with her guardian, Augustus, and her best childhood friend, Sin Evermore, they allow her to see them in their non-earthly forms and pledge to keep her safe and help her learn to control her emerging powers.

Many of the new things in her life seem determined to turn it topsy-turvy. The one constant she is not confused about is her desire to get a good deal closer to Sin. Ignoring every roadblock he throws in her path, she sets out to do precisely that.

This was my first Kristen Callihan book, but it will not be my last. Sin is a marvelously drawn, wounded warrior, and Callihan’s plot brims with richness and depth. 

You say you like your gargoyles hot, Bunkie? Then New York Times bestselling author Christine Warren has the book for you! Rocked by Love is her fourth title in a series featuring seven immortal gargoyle Guardians—and the women who reawaken them—as they strive to protect the world from demons of the dark.

When computer genius Kylie Kramer’s best friend, Bran, disappears for a year, then mysteriously dies, she goes on the search for information. There is something wrong with the answers she’s been given, and she can’t move on until she discovers for herself what truly happened to Bran.

Hacking into his computer and online accounts, she finds files solidifying her feeling that a heart attack didn’t kill Bran. But she doesn’t understand the references to Guardians, Wardens, nocturni and the Seven. She uncovers a source on the dark net who claims he does, and she promptly arranges to meet him. However, he fails to show at the restaurant, and then, just to make her evening truly special, on her way home, she is attacked by two ski-masked muggers. She fears she has met her end, when suddenly, something huge and dark swoops in to dispatch her attackers and snatch her away, flying her up to a bell tower. Finding herself face-to-face with an immense, gray-skinned, bat-winged gargoyle, she’s pretty sure she has fallen down the rabbit hole.

Gargoyle Dag’s job is to destroy the demons threatening Kylie’s world before returning to his slumber. He doesn’t know exactly how long it’s been since he last awakened, but the city they call Boston was village-sized the last time he saw it. And this petite woman who called him from his slumber is apparently his Warden. Assuming a human body, he fills Kylie in on the dark world that killed her friend. And even as they combat demons, their instant connection and passion grows.

If you’re looking for an emotionally conflicted hero and heroine, this might not be your book. It lacks the usual push-me, pull-me conflict between the sexes we’re accustomed to reading in romance. But if you like reading paranormal with steam to spare, delivered in a hip, fresh voice, then Rocked By Love will be right up your (dangerous and spooky) alley.

Jessica Sims’ Between a Vamp and a Hard Place is a silly, sexy novel about an antiques dealer who discovers a vampire sleeping in an ancient coffin. Lindsey and her best friend, Gemma, are trying to build their business, and when Gemma gets a lead on an abandoned apartment in Venice, they pack their bags and discover a treasure trove of valuable antiques.

They also discover a vampire, Rand FitzWulf. The ancient Rand wants Lindsey to help him navigate the modern world and defeat his enemies. Lindsey initially finds Rand to be infuriating and—quite frankly—scary, but gradually she finds herself falling in love with him. But can Lindsey build a future with a medieval vampire? And will either of them survive the confrontation with Rand's nemesis?

This book has a fun, light tone even when things are at their worst for Rand and Lindsey. They have a relationship that, given the circumstances, develops somewhat realistically—Rand gradually comes to appreciate Lindsey’s kindness and intelligence, and Lindsey progresses from feeling sorry for the misplaced Rand to truly loving him.

This book is fun urban fantasy—it's not intended to be terribly realistic. It's a well-written story that involves art, gelato, pasta, mayhem and lots and lots of garlic. There's a solid mix of humor and angst, and the reader truly roots for Rand and Lindsey as a couple. While Lindsey is physically outclassed by the vampires, she's a better strategist than Rand, and it's gratifying to see Lindsey and Gemma use their smarts to outwit the enemy. Overall, this novel has a great blend of sisterhood, paranormal menace and romance.

New York Times best-selling author Nora Roberts kicks off her new Guardians trilogy with Stars of Fortune. Artist and near-recluse Sasha Riggs has suddenly begun dreaming about and drawing five specific people. All her life, she’s done her best to ignore the visions that plague her. Yet the advent of these five—particularly the vision of a man on a cliff with lightning shooting from his fingertips—is impossible to ignore. So she heads to the isle of her dreams, Corfu, off the coast of Greece—because to not do so is out of the question.

From her first day on island, Sasha begins running across her dream people, who have each felt drawn to Corfu because of mysterious, ancient fallen stars, the Stars of Fortune. One by one, Sasha assembles a team in their quest to find the stars: Dr. Gwin, an archaeologist; Bran, a professional magician and Sasha’s featured dream man; Sawyer, owner of a mind-bending Russian compass; Annika, an infectiously joyous and beautiful woman; and Doyle, a tight-lipped former military man. All six possess different supernatural abilities, and Sasha, a seer, is largely an open book. But the others hold their gifts close to the vest. While we might suspect what those gifts are, only gradually do we get to watch them unfold.

Then the group meets someone entirely unwelcome: the goddess Nerezza, an entity shrouded in miasmal darkness. She will stop at nothing to get to the Stars of Fortune before they can.

I’ve long been a fan of Roberts’ characterization skills and the strong friendships she creates. In Stars of Fortune, she brings us a mismatched band that unites through diligent planning and hard work as they attempt to foil the goddess—and weave a tight relationship with each other in the process. Roberts is the queen of mystical-based romance, the master of other-worldly world building, and this book proves to be another jewel in her crown.

Prolific New York Times best-selling author Nalini Singh returns to the paranormal world of the Psy-Changelings in Shards of Hope, the 14^th novel in the series following Shield of Winter.

After Arrow Squad leader Aden Kai and Commander Zaira Neve are viciously attacked, they regain consciousness only to find themselves trapped in a dark cell. Their psychic abilities have been blocked, and Zaira is seriously wounded. Their captors, however, are unprepared for the nearly superhuman abilities of Arrow warriors. Escape is the first priority, but once achieved, they find themselves far from civilization. There only hope for survival lies with a pack of changelings who are extremely wary of outsiders.

Aden and Zaira are determined to survive and unravel the dark conspiracy that threatens the Arrow Squad, and the plot against them proves to have multiple, tangled strands. Even as they follow each lead deeper into danger, they continue to move forward with plans to create a brighter, warmer future for the Squad’s deadly warriors. Aden wants to bring his battle-weary people in from the cold and offer them a life with the possibility of love, family and friendship. He wants Zaira at his side as his lover and his mate, and although she is fiercely committed to Aden, she refuses to claim him. She is convinced the torture she suffered as a child at the hands of her sadistic parents and the Psy Council prohibits her from ever truly being his.

Even as they struggle to find a way to forge a future together, the evil force threatening to destroy the Arrows draws inexorably nearer. Aden has fought too hard to save Zaira and his Squad; he’ll do anything to keep them safe, even if it means sacrificing himself.

Singh’s reputation as a world-class storyteller is certain to grow with her latest novel. The intricacy of the plot, the complex details of the very intriguing world of the Psy-Changelings, and the depth of emotional connection between Aden and Zaira result in a breathtaking story that’s impossible to put down.

Lois Dyer writes from Washington State

In the Air Tonight is the first book in the Sisters of the Craft series, a trilogy about triplets descended from witches. The orphaned triplets, each with a special power, were all adopted by different families and, as of the first book, they don't know about each other.

This book focuses on one of the triplets, Raye Larsen, who is telekinetic and has the power to communicate with ghosts. She’s managed to build a relatively normal life as a kindergarten teacher in a small Midwestern town. But the serenity of the town is shattered when the body of a murdered woman is discovered, and her ghost wants Raye’s help.

Detective Bobby Doucet is in charge of the investigation—and it looks like the killer is after Raye next. As Bobby tries to protect Raye, she begins to unravel the mystery of why she's a target. Bobby and Raye fall in love, but will Bobby continue to love Raye when he realizes who she is and what she can do?

This book is a light, fun read with engaging characters and an ending that neatly wraps up the book while leading to its sequel. It is refreshing to read a book in which the author displays a sound understanding of the Wiccan religion, and the paranormal elements work well to add mystery and menace. It's also refreshing to read a multicultural romance in which a hero of color is appreciated without being fetishized. Bobby, who is Creole and Haitian, and the adopted Raye, who has black hair in a town full of local-born blondes, connect partly because they both stand out in the Wisconsin town.

The town feels authentic without being twee, and the local police work with Bobby without hostility over turf. Despite a plot that involves danger and violence, the book feels comfortable without being dull—it's about nice people who act like grown-ups (with real problems) in a nice place (with an unusual number of corpses). Raye and Bobby have great chemistry and a believable barrier in establishing trust. 

This book was a satisfying stand-alone in the sense that the romance element is resolved, as is any immediate threat to Raye. Of course, it also leaves the reader wanting more in that it suggests that Raye will get to meet her sisters and that each sister will have her own compelling mystery and romance to resolve.

The Unleashing is the first novel in Shelly Laurenston’s new supernatural series, The Call of Crows. It’s filled with crass yet clever banter, tons of action and romance, and a pit bull with wings—what's not to like?

After two tours in Afghanistan, Kera, a Marine, takes a job at a coffee shop to find some peace and quiet. However, her hopes for solace are soon shattered. While attempting to save a woman from being beaten in the alley behind her shop, she is stabbed.

Fortunately for Kera, a very unusual customer finds her. Vig is a member of the Ravens Viking clan and has a connection to the goddess Skuld, so he calls in a supernatural favor. Thanks to Vig, Kera has a shot at a second life, with one caveat: she must agree to fight as a member of the Crows, a Viking clan of women sworn to kill at Skuld's command. Most of Kera’s fellow Crows are on their second life, and they have no interest in manners, convention or boundaries. Common questions amongst them are "What are you?" and "How did you die?” They bicker and sometimes come to blows, but in a pinch, the Crows are completely loyal to each other.

Vig is devoted to Kera as well, and although Kera has a hard time settling into her new life, he provides Kera with a calm, steady foundation during a chaotic time. Crows and Ravens never get along, but Vig and Kera seem to be the exception to that rule. While he is terrifying in battle, Vig is gentle when away from the field. The Raven is no deep thinker, but he has his own kind of intelligence, and he understands Kera like no one else does.

The Unleashing is fast-paced, funny and profane—and it's surprisingly sweet given the considerable amount of violence in the story. The romance between Kera and Vig is both tender and sexy, but the real treasure of the book is Kera's character and her struggles to coexist with her delightfully dysfunctional Crow sisters. Kera's dog, a rescued pit bull, is a fantastic character in his own right and leads to some truly hilarious moments. The book is high on graphic, bloody violence and profane language, so be warned—it's not for the faint of heart. 

Bec McMaster’s fifth book in her London Steampunk series, Of Silk and Steam, takes place in an extravagant and violent steampunk version of Victorian London. In this alternate world, the Queen is controlled by the dangerously insane Prince Regent. Under his rule, Blue Bloods (a version of vampires) dominate over a whole slew of humans and supernatural creatures alike.

Lady Aramina, a close friend of the Queen, believes that Leo Barron's father killed her own beloved father, and she's vowed to ruin Leo as revenge. However, Leo, who has always been intrigued by the beautiful Mina, is determined to unravel her many secrets and win her heart. Although Mina and Leo believe that they are on opposite political sides, both are secretly working to overthrow the wretched Prince Regent. In time, their relationship builds from flirtation and intrigue, to fighting side by side in a rebellion against the Prince.

Of Silk and Steam is lushly atmospheric, and the chemistry between the two leads is explosive. The story opens with masked revelers at the Venetian Gardens, and the tone stays opulent throughout. Leo and Mina are complex characters who value each other's resilience, resourcefulness and intelligence. Initially, they are drawn together because of their sexual attraction, but as events unfold, they begin to understand each other's histories and build a real relationship. The actions scenes have a certain "throw it all in" quality that adds a fun element of mayhem and excitement to this steamy steampunk tale.

Although Of Silk and Steam is enjoyable as a standalone, it bears mentioning that this book relies mostly on developments from previous installments and brings a large narrative arc to a spectacular close.