Kamisama Kiss: Volume 6

by Julietta Suzuki, 192 pages

Nanami finds her kami skills put to the test again by Otohiko-sama, the wind kami who put her through her paces before the festival.  This time, there's an annual conference of regional kami coming up, but there's only one free seat.  If Nanami wants to go and prove herself before her (non-human) peers, she'll first have to beat another human kami named Kayako who's already considered a "living kami" with worshippers galore.  Does Nanami stand a chance?

Ah, Kayako's got a familiar stranger in her camp...for the moment.  Nanami decides to compete for the seat a.) because Kayako's an arrogant, smack-talking young lady and Nanami's pride won't let her back down and b.) she hopes to find news of Mikage, the shrine's former tochigami, for Tomoe's sake.  She can tell that, despite his grouchy protestations, he misses his former master and wants to see him and ask him why he left.  And c.) now she wants to go for wronged Kayako's sake, too.  This is one of those series where the heroine unintentionally expands her fan club everywhere she goes--even if some of her new "friends" still act antagonistically toward her.  Normally, I find that a cheezy plot gimmick, but Nanami's not some saccharine, boringly perfect princess do-gooder charming her way through life.  She's temperamental, barely getting by in school, and plenty stubborn and sarcastic.  But she tries her best, means well (most of the time), and genuinely wants other people to be happy (unless they tick her off, in which case she wants them to learn their lesson first).  I like her.

Kamisama Kiss: Volume 5

by Julietta Suzuki, 191 pages

As she struggles to get her shinshi, Tomoe and Mizuki, to stop fighting with each other and get along, Nanami decides the shrine itself could use some love and attention, too.  A shrine's not much of a shrine if it has no worshipers, and Mikage's have been absent for years, so she comes up with a plan to hold a shrine festival to encourage the locals to visit.  But the townspeople think the shrine is a haunted ruin, and Nanami doesn't know the first thing about organizing a festival or performing her role as the current (human) kami, so she and the gang have their work cut out for them.

Aw, Tomoe and Mizuki don't exactly like each other, but they make up enough to understand one another a little better.  This volume nicely follows the festival plot while slipping in little moments that hint at backstory and future story arcs concerning Mikage, Kurama, Nanami's mysterious and colorful kami-tester, and a strange young festival attendee clad in black.

Kamisama Kiss: Volume 4

by Julietta Suzuki, 191 pages

Tomoe's been coming to school with Nanami to watch over her since her run-in with Mizuki, but he's not very good at "laying low" and draws a lot of admiring attention from the other girls in class.  Worldly-wise Kurama takes him aside and tells him to watch out or Nanami will fall for him, too.  Incredulous, Tomoe laughs such silliness off, but the tengu's warning proves well-founded.  Later, a trip to the beach leads to Nanami once more travelling back to the past, this time to save the object of her unrequited love.  But what she sees there only confuses her even more.

Poor Nanami, in love with a guy who says he refuses to get romantically involved with a human.  The reasons for his intransigence on the matter are a mystery, but she's a proud young woman and does her best to move forward and deal.  I love how Mizuki, who formerly tried to force her to marry him, gives himself renewed purpose in life by sneakily making himself her second shinshi and so becoming a part of the Mikage shrine family.  He was lonely and masterless before, so it makes me happy that he's neither anymore.

Dark Prince

Christine Feehan
447 pages

This is the first book in Feehan's "Dark Series."  The Carpathians are a species/race of people that possess supernatural powers.  They are nocturnal and feed on human blood, but they are not evil.  However, all Carpathian males have the potential to turn into ruthless vampires if they do not find their true life mate.  This is becoming increasingly difficult because no female Carpathians have been born in hundreds of years.  The Carpathians are dying out, and the single males are struggling to maintain control of themselves.

Mikhail is the prince of his people, and he is on the verge of making the decision to "meet the sun" in order to prevent becoming a vampire.  His agony and loneliness are so great that a human telepath, Raven, is able to sense his distress from several miles away.  Raven and Mikhail begin a relationship from this encounter.  From this relationship, a new hope for the Carpathian survival emerges.  However, a threat arises that might doom them all.

Overall, I liked this book.  I found Raven and Mikhail's relationship intriguing and I liked the idea of finding a true "life mate."  However, there are several steamy romance scenes in this novel, so this is not for every reader.

The Cat Who Played Post Office

by Lilian Jackson Braun  262 p.

  This is the sixth Cat Who book in the series. It takes place right after the main character, journalist and amateur detective, Jim Qwilleran, has inherited ridiculous amounts of money. There were more deaths than I expected. Also when I read a couple of these as a kid I did not remember them being so silly with names of things. It was alright.

Dead in the Family

Charlaine Harris
311 pages

Sookie and Bill are recovering from the fairy war, but the process is slow.  Eric is dealing with the political issues that come with learning the ropes in a new regime.  Trouble is brewing for the shapeshifters as the government decides how to handle them.  Rogue fairies are still on the loose, and Eric's maker appears.  Sookie and Eric are both in danger, but for different reasons.

This novel was better than the last few, but I'm wondering if Sookie and Eric will stick together or if that is just another temporary relationship.  I guess only time will tell.

Dead and Gone

Charlaine Harris
312 pages

The shape-shifters have finally decided to come out of the closet and announce their presence to the world.  Some people take this news better than others.  If that weren't enough, trouble is brewing amongst the fairies, and Sookie is an unwilling participant.  The fairies are beginning to wage a war over whether or not fairies and humans should interact.  Since Sookie is part-fairy, this puts her in danger of being attacked by the anti-human fairies because they think she is an abomination.  In the middle of all this, a were-panther ends up dead, and Sookie must use her skills to investigate.

I'm not a big fan of the fairies.  I wish Harris had left this part out.  I think Sookie had enough going on in her life without them.  However, I still love Sookie and will continue to read these novels.