Firstly I must admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Kitty. Out of all of the vampire/werewolf paranormal romance series going around right now she is one of the few characters who tries hard to reconcile her human and werewolf natures combined with some very supernatural problems. In this book Kitty is now a happily married werewolf, husband Ben is working on getting their friend Cormac out of jail. So as things are going well this is the logical time for Kitty to put herself in a Big Brother style cabin in the woods for a reailty tv show full of other supernatural stars. So if the mix of vampires, psychics, magicians and sceptics isn't enough when all the tv crew are found dead and there seems to be no escape from the woods Kitty realises they've stumbled into their own horror movie, one which intends to kill them all.

All the horror movie cliches are here and the first half of the book is very much a case of eploiting those and using it to good comic effect, however when things start to get nasty you do wonder where this will take the characters. One of the main aspects of this book is that you can guess quite easily whats going to happen - you just aren't sure how the characters will get out of it. Vaughn is excellent at writing conversations which give you everything you need to know about her characters - handy when Kitty is a radio host! This also means that while there is plenty of action in this novel its also the conversations between characters that are most revealing and lead the book forward.

If you've enjoyed other books in this series of are looking for a new series to start then I would recommend this one. Kitty has changed a lot from her first book where she was the weakest in a bullying pack. Now she is a public werewolf out of hiding, an Alpha with her own pack to defend and her own power to get used to. It makes the next book something to look forward to.

Succubus Shadows is book 5 relating to the ever so twisted life of Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid. By now if you've been following this series you should know which characters you like and how you feel about Georgina. Personally I think she is brilliant - a morally tortured in and out of love succubus. So the shape-shifting, soul sucking and immortality isn't always the problem for her - its the little things like being in love with her ex Seth who's about to marry her friend. While Georgina is worrying about that problem along comes another supernatural entity trying to lure her into something with its siren song. Surely anything that lures you towards a balcony with golden light and sweet music can't be all bad? Hmm well.....

Without giving anything away because it really is too good to spoil; this novel involves all of the best characters from the series trying to find out what is happening to their favourite succubus. There is some interesting character development as well - Georgina's room mate Roman the nephilim who wanted to kill her seems to be softening towards her quite nicely, Simone a fellow succubus on 'vacation' interfering with Seth and Maddie's relationship and Cody the eternally youthful vampire trying to find love with a Goth girl from the bookstore. The background details and interwoven plots are all very well done but the main deal here is Georgina and Seth's will-they won't-they relationship. Can a succubus have her happy ever after?

Mead has created a fantastic set of characters, people that you really want to succeed in their strange supernatural lives. Trying desperately not to give the ending away either but.... although things are resolved at the end of the book there are still enough questions and implications that will keep this series rolling along nicely.

If you've ever worked in a library, visited a library or just got lost one day and strolled in then this book should make you titter in recognition. I do work in a library and I can honestly say that I read this and kept laughing out loud and randomly saying ' yep we've had that'. Essentially this book is a life story of a librarian going from how to get a job in the council - turn up for the interview and look normal, then upholding the sanctity of the library until you retire about 50 years later.

Although this is set in America the similarities are so perfect that libraries must be the same all over the world. There is always a regular customer who comes in to chat to their favourite staff, always an angry person shouting about putting their books in a bag, always a flasher who thinks its never been done before and always some kids who have to be kicked out every week for being too noisy. From a staff point of view its nice to read how other libraries suffer the same as yours, how all librarians have their own secret language (weeding the books for example) and how all library staff know exactly when to expect trouble. From a customer point of view you'll probably read this and remark that you don't believe this could happen in a library! People dirtying the books, refusing to pay fines, abusing the staff and cheating the community out of much loved classics! Shameless.

This is a great book which I thoroughly recommend to everyone but especially those people who think it might be nice to work somewhere quiet and peaceful like the local library. Best let yourself know what you're in for :)

If, like me. you buy this primarily because its pretty; the graphics, typography, illustrations and ideas appeal to you, then you should be happy with your purchase. If you buy it as some sort of serious guide to fashion, life and travel then you may be disappointed. Not because those things aren't included but because this book is all about appearance. Its appearance is great - the gold cover the riot of colourful pages inside, the clash of pictures, photos, words everything. It can make some of the pages difficult to read however. Also if you are concerned with content over style then reading 5 pages about the delights of macaroons may not be your thing.

So in truth if you are interested in art or graphics or anything in between then this may appeal to you. It is a very attractive book and would make a nice gift. As a lifestyle guide its far too disjointed and following its own random path.

I think like a lot of Laurell K Hamilton's reviewers if you're a loyal fan then you'll read this book and the next Anita Blake one anyway. Yet sooo many of the reviews on here are negative that I do wonder why everyone carries on.

Firstly I always prefered Merry to Anita as at least with her you always knew what you were getting (which tends to be sex and politics) whereas Anita Blake seems to have an identity crisis for the last 5 books. This novel sees Merry in a sort of self enforced exile in LA, living as normal a life as the pregnant sidhe princess of the Unseelie Court can. Her job with Jeremy's detective agency is back on and she is trying to help the police solve some demi-fey murders. All good so far - sounds like a plot. Yet as ever its the confusion of things - too many guards, too many lovers, what power has Galen got again? Do I care that Barinthus's hair looks like the sea? Can I actually remember all the fathers of Merry's babies? Sometimes it even appears as though Hamilton knows she's got too many characters and some of them get the briefest of mentions in this book.

If anything this book seems more like a filler used to illustrate that Merry and her guards are out of fairie now and see where this leads them. Hopefully some of the things that are hinted at in this novel (Barinthus's power struggles, the soldier's hold on Merry's powers, the Goblin unrest) will be expanded on in the next and we'll be back to political backbiting and plotting deaths in no time.

As always this book is in a series and it will really only make the best of sense if you've read all of them. So go and do that please. If you have read all of them then you should know what you're getting into. Harper was struck by lightening as a teenager which left her with a whole load of problems - the main one being that she can sense dead bodies. As in find them, tell you how they died and reveal their secrets. She and her stepbrother Tolliver make a decent living from telling people what they usually don't want to hear, the case in this book is no different. The Joyce family bring Harper in to confirm how their Grandfather died but pretty soon things get murderous and secrets that people thought were well hidden are suddenly out in the open. Making Harper a target for a murderer.

The relationship between Harper and Tolliver changed in the previous novel, so yes in this novel you get more details of that and more sex scenes. Their fast changing relationship also adds another level to all of the family issues that are raised in Grave Secret. Harper's missing sister Cameron has been a focus for her since the start of the series, as has the wellbeing of her two younger sisters. Harper is the narrator of this series and she often takes time to pause and think about things before she says them. This is a quirk of her character, some readers may think this stilts the reading of the novel, I happen to think it shows Harper's state of mind better. So while we see everything from Harper's point of view, we also get her perceptions of her family and its changing dynamics and problems.

If this is the last novel in the series (which I think is a shame) then it certainly concludes all of the open storylines. Everything is resolved and the twists at the end of the novel were well done. Personally I like Harper's character and think its been a great series. Admittedly its probably not as popular as Sookie Stackhouse but then Sookie has had longer to settle into her books.

This novel tells the story of a small village which is relatively cut off by snow and ice. Katri and her brother Mats live above one of the shops but she decides that they should move to the large Rabbit House near the woods. Problematically the house is owned by reclusive author Anna who spends her days writinig letters and waiting for Spring to come so that she can illustrate her children's books.

The isolation of each of the characters for differing reasons combined with the oppresive blanket of snow and ice over everything make it a chilling read. The deceiver of the title appears to be Katri as she manipulates her way into Anna's life and clears the way for her ambitions.

This is a brilliant read, perfect for cold winter days. Its not quite a psychological thriller but all the elements are there; The characters get more suspicious and wary of each other throughout the novel. A great atmospheric read.

This is a nice little book but it is a slightly odd mixture. It contains a combination of ghost story history, true stories, classic ghost stories and a new ghost story at the end. Such a combination might work in a bigger book but this is literally just a snippet of information.
Andrew Martin is an engaging writer and explains exactly what he is investigating and comments on the credibility of his sources (always useful with true ghost tales) but he does jump around alot! Several times he write 'more of that later...' so you are continually drawn backwards and forwards in the book.
I really enjoyed the Victorian section of the book - looking at the rise and fall of spiritualism. This looks at investigators, famous fakes and things that can't be explained. Also the classic ghost hunting stories set in Borley Rectory and the Tower of London are interesting.
However my main problem with this is that its so small. As the other reviewer states - it would be a great gift. Yet the problem is it raises your interest in something then skips merrily onto the next subject before you've really gone into any depth. So if you're looking for a mildly chilling history of ghost stories then this is great but you might end up buying something else as well to accompany it.

For anyone who has seen Seth Lakeman live then you already know that this is going to be great. If you've never quite managed to see him (how?!) but you like the albums or you've heard a few songs then this would be a good addition to your collection.
Filmed at the cliff-side Minack Theatre in Cornwall the live gig is about one and a half hours long and features a good mix of Seth's albums. Stand out tracks are the brilliant Kitty Jay, Blood Upon the Copper and Race To Be King. If you haven't seen Seth live before then the foot stomping may take you by surprise but its all part of the show! Its an interesting show as it starts in daylight and finishes in darkness, the audience start off huddled in their blankets sitting down then finish dancing around the stage (as they should).
Production wise essentially you are just getting a film of a live gig, there aren't any fancy arty shots of Cornwall and the extras are a little bleak. There is a very quick making of feature (I've seen longer interviews on youtube) and two of Seth's videos which are good.
Overall if you like Seth's music then buy it - its as close as you can get to having a gig in your living room. If you're not really a fan but you're willing to try something new then this might be the thing to convert you.

I bought this as a gift and was apprehensive as some cuddly toys can be a bit...well weird looking to be honest. Yet when it arrived (the next day in fact) it did indeed look like a badger. A nice friendly badger at that. He's about 10in long and nice and soft, if you're buying him for a child then obviously check suitable ages etc.