Reign or Shine – Michelle Rowen
Bloomsbury Allen & Unwin, 2010
288 pages
RRP: AU$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9534-2

Review by Liz Grzyb

Nikki Donovan is a typical teenager. She’s just moved to a new town and a new school after her mother married husband #4, and the Winter Formal is coming up! However, her dreams of the most popular boy in the school are disrupted by a strange boy who seems to be stalking her telling her bizarre stories about her father being a demon king.

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Worldshaker – Richard Harland
Allen & Unwin, 2009
384 pages
RRP: AU$17.99
ISBN: 9781741757095

Review by Liz Grzyb

Worldshaker is the story of Colbert Porpentine, heir to the position of Supreme Commander of the juggernaut Worldshaker. Unsurprisingly with a name like that, Colbert is one of the Elite class who live in the upper levels, lording it over the Filthies who occupy the bottom desk and do all the work. Col’s world is shaken up somewhat when he meets Riff, a Filthy who has escaped from the lower decks. She educates him in the true nature of the moving monolith they live in.

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The Crowded Shadows – Celine Kiernan (Moorehawke Trilogy #2)
Allen & Unwin, 2010
518 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-74175-870-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Crowded Shadows is a well-written second instalment in the Moorehawke Trilogy. Like the first novel, this has lovely characterisation, pacy action and interesting ideas. It does, however, suffer a little from being the middle child, as the story doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion in this book, needing the third to finish the story.

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More Scary Kisses edited by Liz Grzyb:

We had so much fun with the first Scary Kisses that we’re doing it all again!
Do you like your romance spiced with a frisson of fear or even a chuckle at the strange things that lurk beyond the real world?

Submission guidelines

Send us your best stories in the paranormal romance vein. We are looking for submissions with romantic and paranormal or speculative elements. These can be humorous, scary, sexy or thought-provoking, but the primary focus should be romance.

1. Story length 1,000 to 8,500 words. (Longer stories may be accepted, although payment is capped at 5,000).
2. Original stories only: no reprints, multiple, or simultaneous submissions.
3. Stories may be emailed to the editor at scarykisses @ ticonderogapublications.com with the words “Submission More Scary Kisses” in the subject line.
4. Manuscript format: double spaced, large margins, sensible font.
5. The editors reserve the right to bend any and all rules for close personal friends.
6. Deadline: 1st November, 2010.

Reading period: The anthology is open to unsolicited submissions until 1st November, 2010.
Payment: 2 copies and Aus 2 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $100) on publication.

Scary Kisses is scheduled for release in 2011.