Paranormal Fiction Feast

Over the last 2 weeks I have read 3 paranormal novels, Christine Feehan’s ” Dark Curse, Julie Kramer’s “Deja Demon and Jayne Castle’s “Dark Light.”

All three of these novels are romance adventures, utilize a formulaic plot plan and while they are all paranormal each has a different magical ingredient.

Christine Feehan is the Queen of the Carpathians. Carpathians are the hottest Vampire hunting, bloodsucking MALE creatures on the planet. Ms. Feehan has created an entire society of magical people that are dying out and can only mate with their one true loves, aka, life mates. Vampires are what happen when Carpathian males don’t find their life mates and lose all hope. In my next life I hope I come back to be bitten and mated by a big hulking Carpathian.
Julie Kramer’s series focuses on her main character who is a demon killing soccer mom. She is what Buffy would be if she was still around. Running between PTA meetings, helping her husband get elected as county prosecutor and raising a tween and a toddler Kate Connor finds time to kill demons, and zombies, save the world and have flirty moments with her back from the dead demon hunting first husband.
Jayne Castle created an entire planet called Harmony where psychic abilities are the norm. Humans discovered the planet as part of the space program and found it compatible with earth. There were obvious previous inhabitants on the planet but they seem to have abandoned the place. Psychic energy can be focused through amber to power everything from a toaster to a vehicle. The aliens left an amazing secret underworld of caverns and traps. Mysterious psychic energy comes from these caverns and it takes a special Guild of energy explorers called “Ghost Hunters to unlock the traps and unearth the secrets.

There are other obvious differences in these novels.
“Dark Curse” is all about passion. The Carpathian Men long for their mates and the return of their emotions. When Nicolas De La Cruz finds his life mate in Lara Calladine he takes what he believes is his without care of her feelings. Lara who has her own magic abilities because of her Dragonseeker heritage is overwhelmed by Nicolas and when she realizes her feelings for him have trapped her again as surely as her grandfather imprisoned her as a child she attempts to kill herself rather than be a victim again. Nicolas rescues her from her suicide attempt and in doing so comes to understand her need for independence. He realizes for love to flourish genuine understanding and compromise must be there as well. As the two lovers come together the battle for the survival of the Carpathian society continues to fume. Lara makes an amazing discovery about herself as she helps 2 of the Carpathian women save their babies and possibly save the future of the culture. She also discovers Nicolas is not just her anchor but her love as well. The passion builds to a fever pitch and when these 2 come together it is HOT! HOT! HOT! If any Carpathians are out there I am available! Ok, no I’m not but I could be if one of you knocked on my door!

“Deja Demon” is about the humor in adversity. Julie Kenner does for the Vampire Slayer series what my fave Janet Evonavitch does for the bounty hunter. Kate Connor is still coming to terms with the fact that her first husband is back from the dead and she was the one who returned him in the last installment, “Demons are Forever.” Eric is back from the dead and living in the science teacher, David Long’s body. Kate loves her 1st husband with all her heart but when he died she moved on and met Stuart fell in love again and loves her new life. She is caught in between secrets, regrets and her responsibilities as well as the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. The story investigates the complexities of mixed families, teen angst, and living with the choices one makes in the name of love with fun, action and laughter. The ending leaves me rooting for Stuart and sad for Eric/David. Most of all, it left me wanting more.

“Dark Light” is centered around the new head of the Crystal City Hunter Guild and an intrepid, do-gooding reporter. The reporter, Sierra McIntyre, has landed a major coup as a reporter for the tabloid ‘The Curtain” by getting an interview with the new Boss, John Fontana. From the moment they meet the sparks fly both physically and psychically. John proposes an outrageous arrangement to Sierra. She can get all the inside scoop on the Guild and the disappearance of retired hunters. I must say she was way too quick to agree to the arrangement but hey some girls are quicker than others. The adventure begins when they are attacked by mysterious bikers wielding new dark energy ghosts and it takes all of John’s psychic talent to defeat them. As the adventure grows so does the love and in short work they are making googly eyes at each other. This is the fluffiest of the three novels. It is kind of like the Harlequin novel of paranormals. I think what my favorite part of the story is Sierra’s sidekick Elvis. Elvis is a dust bunny, a strange little creature native to Harmony. They are extremely fluffy, neat and tricky creatures. Elvis got his name because he loves dressing in capes and sunglasses. Elvis isn’t a pet and don’t get him mad then he gets scary. While “Dark Light was my least favorite of the 3 books it was still a fun read.
All three books can be found in the usual places including my budget conscious favorites the Library and second hand bookstore.