Hello, and welcome back! Less than a week until school starts here, but this year, that won't mean more reading time for me: I'll be working more hours at my bookstore job once the boys are back to school. On one hand, more books. On the other, no extra reading time as in past years. It's one of those good/bad things that evens itself out. In the meantime, I've already dug into the September releases and have the first three to share with you this time.

Out of This World (Brava) by Jill Shalvis is first, with Rachel Bond heading for the wilds of Alaska with her best friend's brother Kellan McInty to check out the B&B she's just inherited from her aunt. Then the weirdness begins, kicking off with a lightning strike that gives them 'super powers'. Usually, my biggest gripe with stories told in first person as this one is, is that you only get one person's point of view. In this one, even Kellan's POV is told in first person. It still didn't help me get over my innate dislike of stories told in first person. And, while this is a rather novel concept, I just couldn't buy into it, nor did I find the cast of secondary characters anymore believable or likeable. This one's not a keeper for me, I'm afraid.

Touch a Dark Wolf (Pocket) by Jennifer St. Giles is next, leaving the gothics behind already to dive into paranormals. Nurse Erin Morgan is on the run from her murderous boss when she hits an animal, she thinks. Turns out the creature she hit is after her, but she doesn't know why. And this vile thing has injured a wolf, she thought, but the wolf turns out to be a man with a burn and a fever, Jared. I'm not sure that even by the end of this one that I got all the finer points of just how this Blood Hunter/Shadowmen/Elan thing works. Sure, Jared's a hunk with some interesting abilities, but I honestly think I was more intrigued with one of the secondary characters here, Dr. Em. It'll be interesting to see where this series goes, I think. This one gets three of Cupid's five arrows in the meantime.

Edge of Darkness (Ballantine) by Cherry Adair rounds things out this time, with her last Edge brother, Duncan. Aside from his normal job with T-FLAC, Duncan intends to run for Head of the Wizard Council. At the moment, though, the mystery of who's been killing wizards occupies his time. That and fantasizing about Serena Campbell. He's known Serena since they were kids and wanted her since they were teens, but the timing has never been right. But in the midst of everything else, how can the time be right now? This one is fun, with plenty of steam (in case it's not hot enough where you are right now), and a smart heroine equal to this hero. The bad guy, well, you'll guess that early on, but it doesn't matter. It's still a very enjoyable story. I'm giving this one four arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!