1 Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR HEART TO A BOOK? Well, look no further. Diana Gabaldon has created the ultimate escape in The Outlander. Don't let the 850 pages dissuade you. It's the fastest read you'll ever have. The epic tale begins when Claire Randall, a young combat nurse in World War II, moves to Scotland with her beloved husband to re-ignite their marriage interrupted by the war. Hiking one day, Claire accidentally passes through the stones of an ancient stone circle and wakes up to find herself in 16th century Scotland. Lost, alone, and confused (yet, determined), Claire's path crosses, and is inextricably linked to, a young Highland warrior, James Fraser. (The kind of man women want, and men want to BE.)The story that ensues would make Shakespeare proud--danger, suspense, passion, betrayal, true love, and tragedy. Gabaldon is a master story teller. She shrouds her fantasy in just enough reality as to completely seduce her readers.
The time-travel element as well as the romance, while unconventional for a "serious" historical novel, are handled brilliantly by Gabaldon. Not, for the faint of heart-- the author tackles themes of a violent and sexual nature. However, the story is so realistic and beautifully told, it doesn't come off as a ploy to shock readers. Well-crafted and meticulously researched, The Outlander is historical fiction at it's finest-but never this much fun! The hero and heroine come alive. You'll find yourself living and breathing in their world, anxiously devouring each chapter. WARNING: have the next three books in the series handy. Once, you turn the last page of Outlander, you won't want to return to the 21st century. I couldn't get to the bookstore fast enough. And, Gabaldon does not disappoint...
2 Once in Every Life by Kristin Hannah
Tess Gregory is a deaf Cancer research scientist. Throughout her life people have looked down on her, so she was never given a chance to LIVE. After an accident that causes her death, Tess is given the chance to pick a new life with the man of her choice. She chooses the most unlikely of dream guys--Jack Rafferty, a man suffering from post traumatic stress from the Civil War. Tess becomes Lissa Rafferty, a woman who died giving birth. The woman's body Tess inhabits, emotionally scarred her little girls , scared off her neighbors, and hated all thing Jack Rafferty. How does Tess deal with her new life? She learns how it feels to love whole heartily and have a family to cherish. Even if she does have to fix someone else's mistakes to get it.
Whitney Stone, a young and impetuous girl believes herself in love with Paul, the recipient of all her youthful feelings and dreams. Her disapproving father deems her behavior inappropriate and she finds herself sent to France with her beloved Aunt and Uncle. These she is allowed to bloom into the beautiful, unique women she is. She finds herself groomed into a lady and becomes the toast of Paris. As she perfects her arts as a lady she deems it time to return home to win the heart of Paul, her childhood sweetheart. Unbeknownst to her, her father has betrothed her to Clayton Westmoreland, the Duke of Claymore. Her father's uncontrollable debts have wiped out her inheritance and her dowry and the Duke is the answer to his financial difficult. Whitney, however, wants nothing to do with the Clayton and pursues Paul and finally wins his heart. From there, you'll have to read the story yourself!
There is a disturbing scene in this book that is often times discussed. I'll leave the reader to draw his or her own conclusions and opinions on it. I, however, found this to be a powerful story and enjoyed it immensely. I'm certain I will not forget the names Whitney or Clayton Westmoreland and they will continue to burn in my mind as one of the more stormy and passionate couples I have ever read about it.
One might draw parallels to GONE WITH THE WIND and this novel, However where Scarlet O'Hara does not realize her love for Rhett Butler until it is much too late, Whitney is not so foolish.
Emmaline is half vampire and half Valkyrie. She is known in her coven as Emma the timid. Her family is shocked when she decides she wants to travel to Paris alone to find out the truth about her father. While there she is attacked by a handsome, yummy, strong, yummy, scary...oh yes yummy man who scares the stuffing out of her. She is even more shocked to find out that in order to return to Louisiana she will have to help Lachlain MacRieve the leader of a Lykae Clan return to his home in Scotland. She'll do it believing she will be allowed to return home. She has no idea Lachlain is her forever mate and he has no plans on ever letting her get away. Lachlain has spent the last hundred and fifty years being tortured by the vampire Demestriu. He is slowly going mad and then...he scents his mate. He has been waiting an eternity to find her and he is not going to let her get away now. He is shocked and somewhat disgusted when he finds out his long awaited mate is half vampire. But despite this he can't keep himself from feeling things for the wee little Emma. She fires his blood and he will do what he must to keep her...even if it means to lie to her. Anything to get her home to Scotland where he will be able to keep her safe and protected when he goes to get revenge against Demestriu. But, life doesn't always go according to plan and wooing Emma is just one of those things. Will he be able to keep her safe and with him or will the vampire horde take away the one thing he needs to live?
5 A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry, Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton
A Kiss of Shadows introduces Merry Gentry, a.k.a. Meredith NicEssus, a faerie princess of the Unseelie Court, where politics is a blood sport. Merry, who's part sidhe (elvish), part brownie, and part human, never really fit in. She's short, not skilled in offensive magic, and mortal because of her human blood. These are real liabilities when your family, especially aunt Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness, is out to kill you. Merry has been in hiding for three years, living in Los Angeles and working for the Grey Detective Agency, which specializes in "supernatural problems, magical solutions." A new case sets her against a man who uses forbidden magic to seduce fey women and drain their power. A plan to trap him goes awry and Merry's cover is blown. Now Andais knows where she is. But things have changed in Andais's court, and Merry is changing too. 
Xishi is orphaned and sent to Madame Fagin's training house for pillow girls. Xishi's long-lost friend, Prince Cor, buys her and takes her back to the Forbidden City. But Cor has changed from the happy boy she once knew. Determined to master his emotions, he's grown into a cold, collected man. Prince of Ice is a fairly traditional romance set in the Far East featuring young friends who have a close friendship and then are torn apart by one child's family. In short, political intrigue, forbidden desires, revenge, danger, friendships, nasty villains, true love. A prince, a secret princess, how they find each other, how they lose each other--Add interesting secondary characters and a side plot about another exiled prince that melds in beautifully, and you have a winner. An adult fairy tale, if you will, well written and captivating
Cat is a spunky heroine, dedicated to avenging her mother. She doesn't want to like Bones, or any other vampire for that matter. After all, her mother has drilled into her head just how evil vampires are... and just how evil the vampire half of Cat is. Killing vampires is the only way she can redeem herself, or is it? Cat's desire to do the right thing is admirable. Her feisty attitude is fun but it is her dedication to her mom that makes her so likeable. Bones is the perfect vampire to team her up with. His calm and patient demeanor contrasts well with Cat's impulsive nature... But should she kill him in the end anyway?
8 Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) by Charlaine Harris
Sookie Stackhouse lives in a world like ours - except for one difference, 4 years ago Vampires "came out of the coffin" and are now a legal part of USA society. Sookie herself is unusual with a disability that makes dating a virtual impossiblity until a vampire comes to town and she discovers he's her (almost) perfect man. Unfortunatley, at the same time people start getting killed, which most of the locals see as an unlikely co-incidence, and in a small town that can almost be deadly itself.
9 Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Physics professor Dr. Jane Darlington spends her 34th birthday in tears. She wants a baby. Where can she find an average or, preferably, stupid man to get her pregnant? She decides that Cal Bonner, legendary quarterback for the Chicago Stars is perfect. Jane sets her plan into action by being Cal's "high class hooker" birthday present. And after some trail and error her pregnancy plan succeeds. But the results are more than she bargained for when Cal discovers her duplicity. How can a football player with an interfering family and a nerdy professor who has never known family ever fall in love? With lots of honesty, understanding, and a whole lot of humor. Don't miss this one! It's filled with engaging characters, laughs galore and a feel-good time.10 Moon Called (Mercy Thompson) by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson is a new entry in the tough-chick, alternate universe, preternatural fantasy/thriller genre. In a world where vampires, the fae and werewolves co-exist with humans, Mercy straddles the line as one of the few remaining "walkers" from a Native American magical bloodline whose scions can shift at will into the shape of a coyote. As a child, Mercy was orphaned and was raised by a pack of werewolves. She ran away from the pack and an early marriage in her teens. Now she lives alone, the owner of her own car repair shop. When Mercy takes in a newly made teen werewolf she unwittingly takes on a whole world of hurt from those who are performing experiments on werewolves. She seeks refuge in her childhood pack and gets to the bottom of the evil preying on young shapeshifters.
MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….
