Druckfrisch 29.12.2009

Für alle, die ihr Weihnachtsgeld ausgeben wollen, stehen ein paar neue Bücher in den Regalen gut sortierter Buchhandlungen – oder im Falle der englischen Liebesromane vielleicht eher beim Onlinehändler des Vertrauens!

Lynda Hilburn: Kismet Knight, Vampirpsychologin (OT: The Vampire Shrink)
Der attraktive Vampir Devereux hat in den letzten 700 Jahren viel erlebt – doch nun lernt er eine Frau kennen, an der er sich die Zähne ausbeißen könnte: Die Psychologin Kismet glaubt nicht an das -Übersinnliche und hält Vampire für Hokuspokus. -Devereux versucht mit allen Mitteln, sie zu -überzeugen – Kismet findet für jede seiner übermenschlichen Fähigkeiten eine rationale Erklärung. Mehr noch: Sie ist sicher, einer neuen Geistesstörung auf die Spur gekommen zu sein und bietet »Betroffenen« ihre Dienste als Vampirpsychologin an. Natürlich bringt sie sich damit in größte Gefahr. Devereux ist versucht, die sturköpfige Frau in ihr Unglück laufen zu lassen – aber da er sich unsterblich in sie verliebt hat, muss er sie immer wieder retten …

Lara Adrian: Midnight Breed 7 – Shades of Midnight
In a frozen wilderness steeped in darkness, the lines between good and evil, lover and enemy, are never black or white but drawn in Shades of Midnight. Something inhuman is stalking the frigid Alaskan wilds, leaving unspeakable carnage in its wake. For bush pilot Alexandra Maguire, the killings stir memories of a horrific event she witnessed as a child and evoke in her the inexplicable sense of otherness she has long felt within herself but never fully understood . . . until a darkly seductive stranger with secrets of his own enters her world.
Sent from Boston on a mission to investigate the savage attacks and stop the slaughter, vampire warrior Kade has his own reasons for returning to the frigid, forbidding place of his birth. Haunted by a secret shame, Kade soon realizes the stunning truth of the threat he faces–a threat that will jeopardize the fragile bond he has formed with the courageous, determined young woman who arouses his deepest passions and most primal hungers. But in bringing Alex into his world of blood and darkness, Kade must confront both his own personal demons and the even greater evil that could destroy all he holds dear.

Elizabeth Boyle: Bachelor’s Chronicles 6 – How I Met my Countess
The Earl of Clifton intended one day to find the perfect countess … then he met Lucy. The improper daughter of an infamous spy, Lucy Ellyson saved Clifton’s life and taught him everything he needed to know about serving his country, even how to fall in love. He vowed he would come back and make her his unlikely countess, but the war kept them apart for too long, and when he finally returned, she’d vanished. Lucy hadn’t gone far – living a new life in the heart of Mayfair. But proper Society hasn’t taught her how to mend her scandalous ways, and when Clifton happens upon her, she’s landed in the sort of trouble that only a hasty marriage can solve. He’s more than willing to be the hero she taught him to be and make her his countess, but all too quickly, secrets from their past threaten the passionate love that ignites them both …

Mary Balogh: A Matter of Class
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh comes yet another classic historical tale that sizzles with romance and unforgettable drama. Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her. Though Reginald Mason, Senior, wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not wish to marry her, preferring instead to live the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Reginald Senior serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents, and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering. So begins an intoxicating tale rife with dark secrets, deception, and the trials of love—a story in which very little is as it seems.