Hello, and welcome back! The September books are much slower in arriving than the August releases were, so I've gone through nearly half already. With what's on my desk now, read and unread, that ought to carry us through the next two or three weeks before I dig into the October releases. Unless there are more late arrivals. This time out, I have two new paranormal romances for you.

Double Dating with the Dead (Brava) by Karen Kelley is up first. Author Trent Sanders didn't mean to get himself stuck here in the dilapidated hotel with 'psychic' Selena James. But that doesn't mean he believes her claims. Two weeks here with her should give him plenty of fodder for his next book, and the chance to prove she's a crackpot. But if she can't prove to him there are ghosts there, she has to spend a night in his bed. Though Selena is annoyed that he's publicly called her a liar, the man is still a hunk. And, FYI, there are ghosts in the hotel. She just has to find a way to make him see them. Cute more than anything else, I liked this one far better than her last, but it still wasn't a keeper for me. Trent is quite obstinate, and Selena isn't exactly a pushover herself, but all that does is drag out the inevitable, as do the 'inconvenient' interruptions they keep having. The story just didn't grab me and keep me riveted. This one gets only three of Cupid's five arrows.

Lord of the Deep (Aphrodisia) by Dawn Thompson is next. Meg is preparing for her initiation on the Isle of Mists, an initiation for which she is to remain virgin. But the night the selkies mingle on the beach below her window for a sexual exhibition, her life changes drastically, and there is no chance of her initiation ever happening now. Simeon, Lord of the Deep, comes to her and takes her to his own home, beneath the sea, if only for a little while. A hot, sensual little while. But Meg doesn't want to go back to her aunt and uncle's home again; she only wants to stay with Simeon. Evidently, selkie sex is addictive. Aside from Simeon's underwater duties, which you won't learn about until later in the story, and his harem of vicious female selkies, there doesn't appear to be a valid reason she can't stay, or that he can't stay with her somewhere on land, at least between duties. And each time it appears that they may get to be together, the author throws something else in their way, with no apparent rhyme or reason. Things not even hinted at earlier come at you late in the story to keep them from having their happy ending, and secondary characters play much greater roles than you might expect. If you just want a book with plenty of hot sex, this might be just the one for you. If you're looking for a well-plotted story, you may want to skip this one altogether. It's earned only two arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!