Book Review: Blood Fury (Black Dagger Legacy) by J.R. Ward (no spoilers)

Blood Fury (Black Dagger Legacy)

by J.R. Ward

January 9, 2018
Ballantine Books

Pages: 432

A vampire aristocrat, Peyton is well aware of his duty to his bloodline: mate with an appropriate female of his class and carry on his family’s traditions. And he thought he’d found his perfect match—until she fell in love with someone else. Yet when his split-second decision in a battle with the enemy endangers the life of another trainee, Peyton has to face the idea that his future, and his heart, actually lie with another.

Novo, as a female in the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training program, feels like she has to prove herself to everybody—and she has no interest in being distracted by falling in love. But when Peyton proves to be so much more than a rich playboy, she is forced to confront the tragedy that has broken her soul and closed her off from love.

As the two grapple with Novo’s past and Peyton’s present, another couple must contend with a connection that is unparalleled—and potentially scandalous. Saxton, who has had his heart broken, discovers in himself a deep-seated attraction to Ruhn, a new member of the household. But will the other male explore the connection? Or will he close his mind and his heart to what could be true love . . . and cost Saxton everything?

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Peyton has always been a rich playboy that has never taken anything serious even when he joined the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training program. Peyton was sure he had found a perfect love until she mated with someone else. Even though he knows that he can’t have her, he still pines away and puts another trainee in danger due to his actions.

Novo is a strong female who feels like she needs to prove herself to everyone and does not want to be distracted by things like love. When she catches Payton’s attention she is sure they can just use each other to scratch and itch and both find themselves in unchartered territory.

Saxton, the solicitor for the King had his heart broken and is absolutely sure he will never love another until he notices a connection between himself and Ruhn. Saxton is sure Ruhn is not gay and tries to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself.

This was more of a romance novel than Ward’s other books. Usually there is a good dose of romance, sex and passion that goes along with the main story and fighting but this was pretty much just two romance stories. The writing was still excellent and the book was good but not the what I normally expect from a book from this series.

Review: Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1)
Review: Blood Vow (Black Dagger Legacy #2)

Getting 4 sheep

Denise B

About the Author:
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J.R. Ward is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series of vampire books. She is a winner of the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best Paranormal Romance and is a multiple RITA nominee. A graduate of Smith College, she was a double major in History and Art History with a medieval concentration in both and she still longs at times for a return to those days sitting in dark lecture halls, looking at slides of old triptychs and reliquaries. Prior to becoming a full time writer, she was a corporate attorney, serving for many years as the Chief of Staff of one of Harvard Medical Schools premier teaching sites. Her idea of absolute heaven is a day filled with nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot and the Brothers, of course.

   

Spotlight: Bryant & May: Wild Chamber: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler + Giveaway

Bryant & May: Wild Chamber: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

by Christopher Fowler
December 5, 2017
Publisher: Bantam
Random House LLC
448 pages
Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are back on the case in this whip-smart and wildly twisting mystery, in which a killer in London’s parks is proving to be a most elusive quarry.

Helen Forester’s day starts like any other: Around seven in the morning, she takes her West Highland terrier for a walk in her street’s private garden. But by 7:20 she is dead, strangled yet peacefully laid out on the path, her dog nowhere to be found. The only other person in the locked space is the gardener, who finds the body and calls the police. He expects proper cops to arrive, but what he gets are Bryant, May, and the wily members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

Before the detectives can make any headway on the case, a second woman is discovered in a public park, murdered in nearly identical fashion. Bryant, recovering from a health scare, delves into the arcane history of London’s cherished green spaces, rife with class drama, violence, and illicit passions. But as a devious killer continues to strike, Bryant and May struggle to connect the clues, not quite seeing the forest for the trees. Now they have to think and act fast to save innocent lives, the fate of the city’s parks, and the very existence of the PCU.

An irresistibly witty, inventive blend of history and suspense, Bryant & May: Wild Chamber is Christopher Fowler in classic form.

amazon link to series

About the Author:

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Christopher Fowler is an English novelist living in London, his books contain elements of black comedy, anxiety and social satire. As well as novels, he writes short stories, scripts, press articles and reviews.

He lives in King's Cross, on the Battlebridge Basin, and chooses London as the backdrop of many of his stories because any one of the events in its two thousand year history can provide inspiration

In 1998 he was the recipient of the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year, for 'Wageslaves'. Then, in 2004, 'The Water Room' was nominated for the CWA People's Choice Award, 'Full Dark House' won the BFS August Derleth Novel of The Year Award 2004 and 'American Waitress' won the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year 2004. The novella 'Breathe' won BFS Best Novella 2005.\

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4 print copies

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Book Review: Thirst (The Energy Vampires #1) by Jacquelyn Frank

Thirst (The Energy Vampires #1)

by Jacquelyn Frank
January 17, 2017
279 pages
Random House/Loveswept
A hidden society of vampires—and the humans they love—are at the heart of this opening novel in a biting, all-original series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Nightwalkers saga.

Rafe DaSilva is an energy vampire, soaking up nourishment from the sun—and, only when necessary, drawing sweet sustenance from humans who are pure in body and spirit. As the right-hand man to his queen, Rafe is a key player at a historic peace summit in New York City, which will unite the vampire nations against a common threat: the sycophants, who feed on humanity and kill indiscriminately. But Rafe’s fascination with a beautiful blond police detective may put everything at risk.

Detective Renee Holden has never worked a homicide quite like this. The victim has twin puncture wounds on his neck, and the only eyewitness swears she saw a vampire. Now’s definitely not the time to get distracted by a seductive stranger. But the suave, darkly austere, exotically handsome Rafe DaSilva is a hard man to deny, and as Renee falls under his spell, she also falls prey to his enemies. Desperate to protect her, Rafe lifts the veil on a shadow realm she can only visit—a world of intoxicating power, terrifying dangers, and forbidden pleasures.

Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Renee Holden is a young NYC homicide detective. When her newest case centres on an affluent murder victim with suspicious bites on his neck, Renee is both puzzled and determined. Rafe DaSilva, a high-ranking member of the vampire queen’s inner circle, is intrigued by Renee’s doggedness but also concerned her investigation is leading her too close to the secret society he is charged to protect. When Rafe places himself in Renee’s path to discover crucial information regarding her investigation, he finds himself unable to resist the allure of the young detective and suddenly she is drawn into his dangerous world. 

Frank’s vampires are vamps with a sci-fi twist. Quite possibly the only vampires in existence, “e-vamps” extract energy by biting human donors at the top of the spine and drawing electricity generated by the brain. Vampire purists may not enjoy the change, however, I appreciated Frank’s fresh take on a standard paranormal type. There’s a lot of good stuff here. I enjoyed Rafe as a suave sophisticate with a quiet, simmering strength and class to spare. Renee is a strong female lead with a brain, confidence, and curves. Frank goes a long way to mimic ‘reality’ within such fantastic subject matter. Rafe and Renee’s romance unfolds more organically than is typical to the genre. Also, the vampire political structure reminded me of a perennial vampire favourite, the Sookie Stackhouse series. This leaves room for a full cast of colourful characters to flesh out the series to come.

In mimicking reality, however, there were aspects of the book that were too mundane. For example, a lot of information is revealed through dialogue. As such, conversations between characters seem to drag. Characters often mull over boring detail, and even spend a lot of time plotting and planning events that never come to fruition. There were some definite pacing issues. This is common in series starters, so I get it. I just found poor placement of crucial details and complete expansion of the ordinary.

Overall, the book was entertaining and I’m intrigued for sure. I’ll be looking for book two.

3 ½ sheep

Bianca Greenwood

About the Author:

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Hi there. It's me! Again. Time to update some more. Trying to keep up with this and realizing I haven't updated this since 2015. (It's 2016 right now) I've expanded my online presence to include Facebook and Twitter, a website a blog and every other bleeping thing there is out there in the cyber world. Was finding it hard to manage all that exposure and get work done at the same time. I am writing under two names (JAX is for my steamier stuff...and yes, it does get steamier!) And I am in over half a dozen languages now! INCLUDING a full line of NIGHTWALKERS audio books with the glorious narration of the superb Xe Sands. I'm thrilled with the job she did!

A KISS OF MAGIC, Book One in the A Kiss of Magic series just debuted, soon to be followed by A KISS OF FIRE, A Kiss of Magic Book Two. Both are available for order and pre-order here. I am self-publishing these books.

In January of 2017 I am publishing a book called THIRST through Random House/Loveswept. It's a great book about a special kind of vampire. Check it out! I think it's available for pre-order already. The cover is also smokin' hot. This too is in electronic format only. (Hey, if you want print I'm right there with you! But I am at the mercy of my publishers!)

I'm still living in Asheville, NC. My kitty family has dwindled to a mere three cats. I have moved but still live in the Asheville area. My what a project that was!

Email will always be welcomed. I am a tech queen and my laptop has grown roots into my thighs. (And my bottom has grown them into my recliner). I am so thrilled about all of my books and I want to know what everyone thinks of them! I receive emails at jackifrankwrites@gmail.com these days. Feel free to say hi! 

If you haven't tried me, please do. I always recommend starting with JACOB. Or if you don't want to invest in a series, go for DRINK OF ME. It's a stand alone.

Exclusive 'First Look' with Tracy Wolff LOVEGAME + excerpt

Lovegame

by Tracy Wolff

Genre: Erotic Thriller

Release Date: June 7, 2016

Publisher: Random House Loveswept

Format: Digital and Paperback

True Crime novelist Ian Sharpe has spent his career writing about serial killers for very personal reasons. For his latest exposé, he is taking on the sadistic madman known as the Red Ribbon Strangler, and when his research leads him to Hollywood’s most private and provocative actress, he will break every rule to uncover her truth. The daughter of one of Hollywood’s golden couples, chased by paparazzi and treated as a commodity her entire life, Veronica Romero wields her sex appeal like a weapon. She expects Ian to be as easy to control as every other man she’s ever known. But from the beginning, he refuses to fall into line. Mysterious and cool, challenging and just a little bit dangerous, Ian somehow makes her feel safe—even as he digs into the deepest secrets of her life and pushes her to the breaking point. As raw ecstasy gives way to agonized truths, their dark obsession exposes secrets that have been buried for far too long. Ian wants to tear down her walls and heal the sensual woman underneath. But if Veronica’s learned anything, it’s that the line between pleasure and pain is a narrow one—and when caught between them the only thing that matters is how you play the game. 

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Exclusive Excerpt

The phone buzzes yet again and I grit my teeth to keep from screaming, largely because I’m afraid once I start I’ll never stop. I’ll keep screaming and screaming and screaming until they come and take me away to some hospital for movie stars and rich people, an insane asylum disguised as a place for plastic surgery and rehab. Considering where my mother ended up all those years ago, I’m intimately familiar with such establishments.

I am not her. I am not going to end up in one of them.

And so I keep my jaw locked against the screaming and the nausea and the betrayal so fresh that it burns like acid. I shove it all down as deep as I can get it, pretending as I do that it doesn’t make me sick. That it doesn’t make my stomach churn and my mouth taste like vomit.

The phone buzzes again—it’s vibrating this time, as whoever has been calling suddenly switches to texts. I moan, start to roll over to get away from the sound. But my body is heavy, lethargic. I can barely get it to move. In the end, I settle for grabbing a pillow and dragging it over my head to block out the noise—and the light.

Except the pillow is wet. Sticky. Salty. I shove it away with a gasp, struggling to open my eyes against the overwhelming lethargy that continues to pull me down, pull me under.

My face is wet from the pillow and I bring my hand to my cheek, try to rub the stuff away. I finally manage to get my eyes open and I glance down at my fingers, trying to see what’s on them.

I’m so out of it that what I’m seeing doesn’t compute for several long seconds. When it does—when I register that my hand is stained with something red and thick—my adrenaline finally kicks in. I stagger out of bed, staring in horror at the pillow I’d just pulled over my head. At the crisp white sheets and blankets that I’d been under.

They’re doused in blood, covered with the thick, viscous liquid. And so am I, my gown heavy with the stuff. My arms and legs streaked red with it.

I stumble backward, desperate to get away, but I get my foot tangled in the comforter that’s on the floor and go down hard—right in a puddle of blood. That’s when I start to scream, loud, high-pitched shrieks that can probably be heard in Mexico.

Over and over and over again I scream, my mind racing. My body working of its own volition, crab-walking backward away from the bed. From the blood.

But I’m dragging it with me, can see the smears of it left in my wake—wet and red and terrifying.

There’s a tiny part of my brain that’s still working, that’s telling me to breathe. To calm down. To think. It’s almost impossible to hear it over my strangled cries and the frantic beating of my heart. But I try to listen anyway, try to stop screaming long enough to take a deep breath as the room swims around me.

It’s not blood, I tell myself again and again. It’s not blood. It’s not blood. It’s not blood.

It can’t be.

But it’s in my nose now, in my mouth. Salty, coppery, thick and I know—I know—that it’s exactly what I’m afraid it is.

Oh my God. Oh. My. God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

I don’t stop shuffling backward until my hand brushes against something sharp. The sudden prick of pain cuts through the hysteria and I lift my hand into my lap and stare at the new, jagged cut running across my palm. It’s bleeding now, my own blood mingling with the rest of the mess. Bright red mingling with dark.

I glance around wildly, trying to figure out what cut me. Trying to figure out where I am.

The last thing I remember is my mother helping me to bed. That’s it. There’s nothing after that. Nothing to account for what’s happening now. Nothing to account for all of this.

I can’t stop screaming any more than I can stop the blood pouring from my hand.

There’s a small part of me that knows I should get to the bathroom, that knows I should wrap a towel around my cut. But I can’t move. I can’t think. I can’t do anything but sit here and scream.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps thundering down the hall, fast and hard. The door to my bedroom crashes open and Ian is standing there, eyes wide and wild as he takes in the state of the room . . . and of me.

It only takes a second, and then he’s next to me.

Crouching in the blood.

Hands gripping my shoulders.

Face next to mine.

He’s saying something—I can see his mouth moving, can hear the words falling into the sudden silence between us. But I can’t make sense of them. Can’t get them to compute in my jumbled brain. All I can think is that Ian is here. Ian, my love.

No, no. Not my love, I remember abruptly. Ian, the liar. Ian, the user. Ian, the traitor.

There’s a tiny part of me—the one bent on self-preservation—that tells me he can’t be here. He can’t see this. He can’t write about this.

Go, I try to tell him, but my mouth isn’t working right. Nothing is. I want to shove Ian away, but my arms are so heavy I can barely lift them. My whole body feels like it’s slogging through quicksand. Like I’m drowning in plasma and can’t work my way out of it. Whatever strength I had, I used up just getting here.

Ian grabs my hand, holds it up so he can look at it. Then he’s shrugging out of his T-shirt and wrapping it around the wound.

He’s glancing around now, eyes dark with horror, even as he elevates my arm and holds pressure on the cut. He’s talking again—I can see his mouth moving—but the words still sound tinny and distorted. Like they’re coming through water.

I look back at the doorway as my mother comes skittering through it. She freezes much like Ian did, then screams, her hand pressed to her mouth.

“Damn it, Veronica. Focus! I need you to answer me. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

The words he’s saying finally arrange themselves in the right order and instinctively, I do what he commands. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

He grabs my nightgown in the center of the bodice, then rips it away with his bare hands. Thank God. I don’t think I could handle him trying to pull the bloody thing over my head.

Then his hands are on me, running over my shoulders, my back, my ass. Doing the same to my chest and stomach and sex. “Let me see your legs,” he orders, and I stick them out obediently. I’m so confused, so lost, that it seems smart to let him have control, at least for a little while. He seems to know what he’s doing.

“It’s not yours,” he says after a minute, relief ripe in his voice.

“What?” I finally manage to force a word past my dry lips.

“The blood. It’s not yours. I don’t see any other injuries.”

“But where’s it from then?” I clutch at him, still too groggy and panic-stricken to think clearly.

“I don’t know,” he answers grimly. And then he’s sitting down next to me, right in the middle of the mess.

“Be careful,” I warn him, my words sounding garbled to my own ears. “I cut myself on something back there—”

“This,” he says, his voice dark and foreboding. “You cut yourself on this.”

He holds up a black and orange bow saw.

“Oh my God.” I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. “Oh my God.”

It’s the same saw that Belladonna used to dismember that poor girl. The same one I used in the bloodiest scene in my entire career.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” I look around at all the blood. “What’s happening to me? What did I do? What did I do?”

Copyright © 2016 by Tracy Wolff

Praise for LOVEGAME 

“Lovegame is a true masterpiece, with thrilling suspense, crazy hot sex, and writing so truly beautiful that it stays with you long after you put the book down. It’s my favorite read of the year by far.”—Sawyer Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of Sugar Daddy 

“I loved Lovegame! It’s a hot, sexy thriller of a book, with so many twists and turns I never saw coming!”—M. O’Keefe, author of Everything I Left Unsaid Barclay Publicity, LLC Author and Book Promotion, Simplified. 

Praise for the novels of Tracy Wolff 

“Tracy Wolff knows how to steam up the pages.”—New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner 

“Fall in love under the spell of a master. Tracy Wolff knows how to keep you panting for more and utterly satisfied all at once.”—New York Times bestselling author Beth Kery, on Ruined

“Tracy Wolff had me turning pages way past my bedtime. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and the steamy love scenes had my pulse racing.”—New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo, on Exposed

The Book Scoop, to discover the newest work from our clients at http://www.barclaypublicity.com, and follow us on Twitter: @Barclay_PR

About the Author:
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New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Tracy Wolff collects books, English degrees and lipsticks and has been known to forget where—and sometimes who—she is when immersed in a great novel. At six she wrote her first short story— something with a rainbow and a prince—and at seven she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she’d read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she’d found her life-long love. Now an English professor at her local community college, she writes romances that run the gamut from sweet contemporary to erotica, from paranormal to Urban Fantasy and from young adult to new adult.

THE #DASHNERDASH BINGE READ + signed book giveaway

JAMES DASHNER FANS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN

THE #DASHNERDASH BINGE READ,

A REREAD OF ALL THE BELOVED NOVELS IN

Live Google Hangouts with James Dashner at the End of Each Month

(Details below)

The reread will kick off on May 27 with The Maze Runner—fans can submit questions via the James Dashner Facebook page. Selected questions will then be discussed by the author and his editor, Krista Marino, in a series of live Google Hangouts during the last week of each month.

The first Google Hangout with Dashner and Marino will happen the week of June 27. Specific details will be posted on the Facebook page and shared via social media.

Sept 27, 2016

Pre order: The Fever Code (Maze Runner, Book Five; Prequel) (The Maze Runner Series)

http://amzn.to/1YF51uI

About the Author:

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JAMES DASHNER is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series—The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and The Kill Order—as well as the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series, which includes The Eye of Minds, The Rule of Thoughts, and The Game of Lives.

Giveaway

One USA winner will receive a signed copy of

The Maze Runner

#DASHNERDASH Giveaway

Book Review: Feversong: Fever Series Book 4 by Karen Marie Moning

Feversong: Fever Series Book 4

by Karen Marie Moning

January 17, 2017
560 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
In New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning’s stunning novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin’s battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest adventure of her life.

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master’s spell.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge.

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barrons . . . and about the world she thought she knew.

BONUS: This edition includes and excerpt from Karen Marie Moning's Shadowfever.

Look for all of Karen Marie Moning’s sensational Fever novels:
DARKFEVER | BLOODFEVER | FAEFEVER | DREAMFEVER | SHADOWFEVER | ICED | BURNED | FEVERBORN | FEVERSONG

DreamFever, by author Karen Marie Moning is the fourth installment in the fabulous Fever series. All her books in this series have hit the NYT bestselling list and for good reason, they are amazing!

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...

Moning gives everything a reader could ask for, then throws an extra helping on top. Can you pass the bowl of Unseelie stew please. I have a few favorite authors (Frost, Ward, Cole, Showalter, Sparks to name a few) and she has definitely been placed at the top! I couldn't put these books down, the story was exciting and delicious at the same time.

Can a Barbie girl step it up (3, hahaha) when danger lurks around every corner and numerous people are out to killer her? If the worlds fate rested on your shoulders could you rise to the occasion? Fight or flight? Love or lust, does it matter? With Jericho... heck no! And where is my MacHalo? )

I cant wait for the final installment to come out, but wait I will cause its not due to hit the stores until Jan 2011. This book is a must read and I am proud to give it my first ever 5 sheep rating!

KD

About the author:
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Karen Marie Moning is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the sizzling Urban Fantasy FEVER Novels set in Dublin, featuring MacKayla Lane and Jericho Barrons, and the paranormal romance HIGHLANDER Series, with fifteen books in print in thirty-six countries.

She is a winner of the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA award, and multiple RITA nominee. She graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Society & Law.
*Sign up for Karen's email newsletter to receive the latest book release updates, as well as info about contests & giveaways ( www.karenmoning.com/kmm/press/newsletter-signup.html)