When Jackie first started Literary Escapism, she wrote up a list of recommendations based on what she had read up to that point and then updated it two years later. Recently, while she was updating the About LE page, she realized it had been another two years. LE has grown significantly over the last 5-1/2 years, so it’s definitely time for another update. And this time, she won’t be the only one sharing her favorites.
To round out 2012, each one of us at LE will be hijacking Sunday Surprise to show off three books we would recommend. If you like what you see, then make sure you stop by on Wednesday where we’ll be showing off all the books we would recommend (and we have quite a bit). I’m taking over today and here are three that I simply love.
Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #1)
My name is Gin, and I kill people.
They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South ? when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.
Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate anyone who gets in my way ? good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I’m battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction…especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.
Tempt Me with Darkness by Shayla Black (Doomsday Brethan #1)
He’s an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction….
As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray’s dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he’s sure they’ve met in eons past. He’s felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body…Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur’s warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.She’s a modern woman about to discover ancient magic….
Olivia shares a mystical — and irresistible — connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful — and intimate — than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna’s hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love — with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren — can save them.
Dark Lover by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1)
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.
