I found a new favorite author in Keri Arthur when I read City of Light last year, and my hope is that I will continue to enjoy her work for years to come. Certainly those odds are looking good with Winter Halo, the sequel. Not only did I enjoy it as much as the previous book, this second novel of the Outcast series also came along when I needed it the most, providing a much needed counterpoint to the heavier reads I’ve had on my plate lately. It was nice to simply let loose with Tiger in her world again; that and we all know there’s nothing quite like vampires and shapeshifters plus a little a bit of sex and action to serve as perfect entremets. The story picks up from the end of City of Light, continuing Tiger’s quest to rescue a group of kidnapped children. With the help from some new allies (because calling them friends would still be quite a stretch), she traces the trail to Winter Halo, a pharmaceutical company whose research arm appears to be involved in a bunch of shady activities. Our protagonist hatches up a plan to go undercover, using her déchet abilities…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   FANTASY                   URBAN FANTASY         SCIENCE FICTION             HORROR         FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   A Conclave of Shadows Alyc Helms 7/5/2016 Angry Robot Beyond the Woods : Fairy Tales Retold Paula Guran 7/5/2016 Night Shade Books Deserts of Fire : Speculative Fiction and the Modern War Douglas Lain 7/5/2016 Night Shade Books Flameout Keri Arthur 7/5/2016 Signet Heroine Complex Sarah Kuhn 7/5/2016 DAW Paper and Fire Rachel Caine 7/5/2016 NAL Sacrifices Jamie Schultz 7/5/2016 Roc The Copper Promise Jen Williams 7/5/2016 Angry Robot The Dinosaur Knights Milán, Victor…

This was my first book by Keri Arthur, and I was completely unprepared for how good it was. I don’t even know why I was caught so flat-footed! After all, I know friends who have been fans of the author’s for years and they all absolutely adore her work, which is what convinced me to give City of Light a try in the first place. I’ve been curious about her books for a long time, and this being the first book of a new series seemed like the perfect place to start, so I went in with pretty high expectations. It ended up exceeding all of them. Of course, I was skeptical at first, especially right after I opened the book and was almost immediately overwhelmed by a huge solid wave of info-dumps. To be fair, I understood the reasons for this, especially after I finished the book. There’s a tremendous amount of world building and a lot of amazing wonders and mysteries to discover, but the fun can’t start until after we’ve all taken the crash course, so to speak. After the story gets moving though, things really heat up. This series opener introduces us to Tiger, a genetically…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION      FANTASY       URBAN FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION     FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION