Today has been a day - and it's not even halfway over!

I guess I must be recovering from (or still slightly suffering from) a mild case of heat exhaustion. It's the only thing I can think of.

I had to leave the car at the dealership for some safety recall stuff and took the shuttle home. After a meandering 1 hour drive through back roads north of Boulder, I was finally dropped off, nauseated as all get out. Fun stuff.
I actually have a ton of work to do, but I guess I will spend this evening doing it once I feel better. In the meantime, I finally got to finish Vicki Pettersson's latest Touch of Twilight and boy was it fabulous!
Pettersson falls smack dab in the urban fantasy category, but she's got one of the most original series I have ever come across. There are no werewolves or vampires in her books. Nope, the characters are superheroes. How awesome is that?

When I got in my copy of Scent of Shadows, book one in the series, my ARC had a very different cover than the one that appeared on the actual book. Mine had an evening scene across the top and the rest was black. The blurbs by Gabaldon and Harrison were there, though, as was a very nondescript synopsis on the back. I happen to love Harrison, but have not yet read the Gabaldon books. I knew nothing about the book other than the fact that these two ladies recommended it. I had no expectations; I had no clue what the book was about. Imagine my surprise when, about 90 pages into, things really start to pick up.

Joanna Archer, the central character in this tale, is the daughter of an agent of the light – a member of Zodiac troop 175, paranormal division, Las Vegas. Joanna knows nothing of this thanks to the fact that her mother disappeared shortly after her sixteenth birthday. New initiates of the Zodiac are typically trained as children. Joanna’s own violent initiation as a member occurs on her twenty-fifth birthday. She soon discovers that she is also a descendant of the Shadows, the enemy of the Zodiac. She alone is said to be the one who can rebuild the Zodiac and bring balance to the war between good and evil.

I am totally in awe of Pettersson's imagination. I've caught references to various myths and legends - changelings and the Tulpa being a couple - I know there are other influences - book three talks a lot about Tibetan mysticism - but to have put all of it together into a series about superheroes waging war against the dark in Las Vegas is something that amazes me. That she continues to surprise me and keep me on the edge of my seat as the series progresses is a testament to her incredible talent as an author. I highly recommend the series to readers and I can't wait to see what happens next!