Hello, and welcome back! It's been a long work week, but I have gotten in a little reading time here. What I'm really waiting to get my hands on, though, is the new Linda Howard: Cover of Night (Ballantine). Fortunately, I work Tuesday morning, so that one will be coming home with me Tuesday afternoon. I also just got a couple (late) June releases, so those will be up here early next week. And in the meantime, I have two new July books you should be able to get your hands on in the next few days....

The Red Heart of Jade (LoveSpell) by Marjorie M. Liu. This one has Dean Campbell and Mirabelle Lee fighting the bad guys this time. I have to say, I wasn't wild about the previous book in this series, and, while I'm sure fans will disagree with me, I didn't like this one either. This story just isn't to my taste. It's violent from the beginning, which may be jarring if you're not expecting it. I'm afraid I'm just not destined to be a fan of Ms. Liu's brand of paranormals. That's okay, I know many of you disagree.

Dark Protector (Pocket) by Alexis Morgan is next with her debut. Devlin Bane is a Paladin, destined to fight the Others to protect our world. Laurel Young's job is to keep reviving the Paladins each time they die, so they can continue fighting. Until they change into Others as well. Laurel doesn't have much real conflict here, and really, neither does Devlin, as far as the romance goes. A few token protests, and that's all. If you're looking for something heavy on the fighting and light on conflict, you may like this one. Unfortunately, the real conflict here isn't even tied up at the end but carried on for the next book. Still, I know paranormal readers are always looking for something new. I'm sure there's a market for this.

Until next time, happy reading!