Hidden Talents by Emma Holly

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Synopsis

Werewolf cop Adam Santini is sworn to protect and serve all the supes in Resurrection, NY - including unsuspecting human Talents who wander in from Outside.

Telekinetic Ari is hot on the trail of a mysterious crime boss who wants to exploit her gift for his own evil ends, a mission that puts her on a collision course with the hottest cop in the RPD. Adam wants Blackwater too, but mostly he wants Ari. She seems to be the mate he’s been yearning for all his life, though getting a former street kid into bed with the Law could be his toughest case to date.

Review

I wrote this review in the form of a letter to the author because that is how it started. I fell in love with the book so much I felt compelled to message her directly about it. Once I had finished I realized I might as well write a review: So here it is.

I just finished reading Hidden Talents and I truly enjoyed it. Your unique perspective was so very refreshing. You honored the traditions of were and fae yet still made it completely unique and your own. I really loved that Ari was such an incredibly realistic heroine instead of the chaste and quaking virgin. I love that she is sexually experienced and adventurous yet still appreciated by her Alpha who was absolutely perfect for a change instead of the domineering chauvanistic assholes currently popular. Don't get me wrong sometimes those are fun too as well as the whole virginal bit but sometimes just sometimes I want a little down to earth mixed in with my fantasy. I love that you were able to depict an Alpha with every trait I love including strength, loyalty, compassion, protectiveness and love. Yes ladies a real man is someone who is not afraid to be mushy infront of the guys because he realizes what is truly important in life. Adam was truly my dream man :)
I have been reading quite a bit of shifter type paranormal romance, urban fantasy stuff lately but I have to admit this book stood head and shoulders above most of what is out there right now. Emma Holly's world and concept building skills are quite impressive. There were several new character archetypes that I really liked as well as old school ones that were done very very well and true to form. An example of this is her depiction of the Fae Lord! Yes most authors will mention how beautiful they are to all other creatures, but none other than Emma Holly have truly been able to depict exactly how intoxicating their presence is to others. She absolutely nailed it! So much so that I would love to read a book about this wonderful creature and the songstress he pines for.

As a final endorsement (All sensitive souls should look away now) I have to say that Hidden Talents has some of the most fanFUCKINGtastic, hottest, steamiest, raunchiest, earth shattering and wonderfully origional sex scenes I have read in a long long time. Emma Holly gives Lora Leigh a very serious run for her money.

At 3.99 on Amazon this book is a wonderful bargain and an exceptional read.

The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

This title will be released on December 27, 2011.

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I gasped . . . or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t draw breath. . . . His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked in my breath and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh.

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of writing her bestselling book, The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. After all, Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she finds herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.

But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: He’s not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the incubus, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this demon lover from her heart.

Victoria Holt style gothic romance meets modern day paranormal erotica!

Those of us that love this genre are fortunate enough to be experiencing a wonderful new array of urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels. We are absolutely spoiled for choice and can practically pick any fantasy our heart desires because of it. The unwanted side effect of this is that pretty much every scenario has been played, every angle has been looked at and every fantasy whim has been satisfied. There are a small group of novelists who are transcending these barriers and leading their imaginations through even wilder and darker paths to places we never imagined could exist.

The awesomely pseudonymed Juliet Dark has managed to do this and more. She has taken the glorious gothic romance genre of yesteryear and blended it with the wonderful urban fantasy and paranormal romance themes of today to create a story that left me breathless. Her storytelling is masterful and commandeering! She took me through every scene and kept me exactly where she wanted me. I felt every nuance and every emotion that Callie experienced, and when her heart was broken I felt the pain as if it were my own. The desperation and despair of her situation and the revelations that followed were so real to me that I could almost feel myself walking through the story through her.

The Demon Lover is going down as one of my best reads of the year and I believe that this book has all the goods to become a true classic of our time.