Swimming Without a Net (Fred the Mermaid #2) – MaryJanice Davidson
Jove Penguin, 2007
281 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 978-0515143812

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The second in MaryJanice Davidson’s Fred series, Swimming Without a Net continues half-mermaid Fred’s trials and tribulations with her family and dating, and asks the big question: should mermaids reveal themselves to humans? This is the question being discussed at the mer-people “family reunion” Fred is invited to, and since she’s half human, she’s supposed to be able to tell them a definitive answer! However, the big question Fred seems to be spending all her time pondering is which of her paramours she actually wants.

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Light My Fire – Katie MacAlister (Aisling Grey: Guardian #3)
Penguin Signet, 2006
352 pages
RRP:US$6.99
ISBN: 9780451219824

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

It’s been a bit of a Katie MacAlister couple of weeks on this site, which is mainly due to the light and easy-read nature of her books. Light My Fire is no different. Following on from You Slay Me and Fire Me Up, it follows Aisling Grey, Guardian, Wyvern’s Mate, Demon Lord and general magnet for trouble. Like the previous two, Aisling spends the novel being chased by various bad guys as she falls in and out of every possible dilemma.

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Cupid Cats – Katie MacAlister, Vicki Lewis Thompson & Connie Brockway
Penguin Signet, 2010
400 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780451230720

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Cupid Cats is a collection of three novellas centred around kitties from the “Cupid Cats” shelter, who true to their name, help to bring a little romance and a hint (or more) of the paranormal into the protagonists’ lives. Each author’s Cupid Cats refuge is different, which is a bit disconcerting, but as long as the reader doesn’t compare the stories’ worlds, each works well.

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You Slay Me (Aisling Grey: Guardian #1) – Katie MacAlister
Penguin Onyx, 2004
352 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780451411525

Fire Me Up (Aisling Grey: Guardian #2) – Katie MacAlister
Penguin Signet, 2005
368 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780451214942

You Slay Me and Fire Me Up are the first two novels in Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Grey, Guardian series. Aisling Grey is a Guardian, as the title states, however she has only just become aware of the fact, being thrown into the world of the supernatural and paranormal. Her Guardian status isn’t the only surprise in store for Aisling; she also finds out she is destined to be a dragon’s mate…

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Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits – Robin McKinley & Peter Dickinson
Penguin Putnam, 2009
298 pages
RRP: US$15.00
ISBN: 978-0441019199

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

I’d been looking forward to the next instalment to Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson’s Tales of Elemental Spirits collections since reading Water in 2002. Fire is a fantastic followup: definitely appealing to a young adult audience as well as adult readers. The collection contains five stories linked by a connection to the element of fire.

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Chalice – Robin McKinley
Penguin Firebird, 2010 (reprint)
264 pages
RRP: US$8.99
ISBN: 978-0-14-241720-1

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

As an avid reader of Robin McKinley since I was a young ‘un, I couldn’t wait to devour Chalice. My favourite McKinley tale has to be the original and the best, Beauty. Chalice has a lot of the magical fairytale atmosphere that I adored in that first reading, so it couldn’t possibly disappoint.

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Real Vampires Have Curves – Gerry Bartlett (Glory St Clair #1)
Penguin Berkley, 2007
318 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 978-0-425-22096-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

I love the premise for this series. Vampires have long had the reputation for being classically good looking specimens, who magically gain a perfect body the second they are turned. However, Gerry Bartlett has introduced us to Glory St Clair who was somewhat full-figured when she was turned, now spending the rest of her afterlife as a voluptuous vampire. Glory has the same hang-ups and body issues that women groan about the world over, so she is a fun, fabulous protagonist for this series, who most women would relate very easily to.

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Steamed – Katie MacAlister
Penguin Signet, 2010
334 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 978-0-451-22931-1

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

As those who’ve been reading my reviews for a while will know, I really enjoy reading Katie MacAlister’s writing. Her books are funny, sexy, always interesting and slightly off-beat. Steamed is no exception. Telling the story of a steampunk aficionado who is somehow transported into the world of his imaginings, Steamed is a comic and sensual romp around airships, corsets and velocipedes.

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Burning Alive – Shannon K Butcher
Penguin Onyx, 2009
368 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780451412713

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Burning Alive is the first book in the paranormal Sentinel Wars series by romance author Shannon K Butcher. It follows heroine Helen as she finds out she is not just an average human, but one of the few remaining demon-hunting Theronai women, capable of wielding great magic against the monsters invading the earth, and saving one of the Theronai heroes from the torture of containing his magic.

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Blue Noon (Midnighters book 3) – Scott Westerfeld
Penguin Atom, 2006
344 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 1-906233-84-8

Reviewed by Andrew Williams

This is the third book in the Midnighters series, starting with The Secret Hour, and Touching Darkness - urban fantasy with young-adult protagonists. In addition to the usual high school and family woes, they all have to deal with the ‘blue time’. In the town of Bixby, if you were born on the exact stroke of midnight, you have an extra hour each day – while the rest of the world is frozen in time.

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