Vampire Werewolf COS Commandos!

Glad y'all liked my Alex and T teaser ;-). I love the way those two communicate, ahem. It always amazes me, as a writer, how two characters come together and they just smolder as a couple. I mean, where does the chemistry come from?

Talking about smoldering, I'm reading another version of the super soldier theme. I just devoured the first two books of Keri Arthur's urban fantasy series. It's werewolf/vampire/shapeshifter oriented and the heroine carries the genes that the Big Bad wants, that would or might create the supersoldier.

I loved the books! But I also shake my head at how similar themes can crop up in a spate of books. I mean, as writers, we're dealing with the subconscious, pulling ideas out of "somewhere" to create what we love: a good story. I wonder when Keri Arthur started writing the first of her four books in this series...I've been playing with the supersoldier spy thenes for a few years now, jotting down and collecting CIA declassified reports, reading ex-operative manuals and attending workshops. With four books already written, she must have started around the same time I became enamored with the idea, which was also about the same time Christine Feehan's first GAME book (another genetic enhanced supersoldier spy series). Oh, I just also thought of Christina Skye's enhanced SEALs too.

All these stories, including my own, capture the essence of government experimentation, super operatives with chips and enhanced abilities, the use of high tech, spying on both sides, and shadowy big bads with government influence. However, whereas the others are written for the urban fantasy/paranormal genre, mine is romantic suspense, thus more contemporary, set in the real world, with a touch of techno sci-fi, in the sense that I used current available technology found through research and merged them all together. It's cool how writers can pull together the same elements and make a different costume for a different party.

Interesting, huh? Like we all thought of some form of it around that same time. I would love to do an astrology chart of around that period and study the planets to see whether they were somehow aligned and how that affected my personal chart. ;-)

Anyway, if you haven't read Keri Arthur yet, run and get the first book, Full Moon Rising. It's addictive, like the first Anita Blake book by Laurell K. Hamilton. You will want more.

Warning, though...it's urban fantasy and it's not labeled romance on the spine. The werewolf culture is thoroughly explored here and the heroine is...umm...well, some of you might term her a loose woman, if you like your "romance" traditionally one-man/one-woman. Also, rape and casual sex are present. You've been warned!

The author took pains to explain (show through action and conversation) that the heroine is NOT a human, that she is a werewolf, so sex is treated differently in her world. The neat thing is that the "traditional" side is voiced by a thousand year-old vampire who is deeply attracted to our heroine; the human side of him wants her exclusive and therein lies the conflict of their relationship.

It's an interesting dichotomy. And sort of reminded me of Jed and Hell's problem because Jed is such a tomcat when it comes to sex. Oh man. Riley Jensen, the supersoldier in Arthur's series, BETTER NOT START REMOTE VIEWING!

For those who enjoy urban fantasies and have been a bit overwhelmed by the hundreds of lovers available to Anita Blake lately, they will enjoy this series, or at least, the first two, anyway, which I just finished. They have the same kind of feel to them. Let's just hope Riley doesn't get to be so uber-powerful all her men turn into betadogs. Oh, a special plus--the vampire "hero" (there are many men in and out of Riley's life but Quinn is the main dude...I think...) sounds and talks like J.D. Robb's Roarke, even to the lilting Irish brogue that comes through when he's not in control ;-). Oh, and yeah, he's a billionaire vampire with lots of legal and not-so-legal businesses. Interesting blend, huh?

So, have you read these books? Highly recommended!

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