Mona Lisa Awakening

Once readers get past the silly premise of Sunny's sizzling debut—a humanoid race called the Monère came to Earth from the moon 4,000 years ago—they'll find much to like in this intrigue-filled erotic paranormal. The "children of the moon" are ruled by "Queens," rare females whose ability to pull down the moon's rays allows them to heal rapidly and live 300 years. Gorgeous, shape-changing males protect, serve and have sex with the often ruthless Queens, who sometimes cruelly abuse them. After treating one of these males, Gryphon, at Manhattan's St. Vincent's Hospital one night, 21-year-old ER nurse Lisa discovers she's not only a part-human Monère herself but also the first "Mixed Blood" Queen, Mona Lisa. Her human blood makes her impervious to sunlight and silver—the banes of the Monère—and her latent powers pose a threat to the nastier Queens, who want to destroy her. Mona Lisa shares many traits with Laurell K. Hamilton's heroines, including having lots of hot sex for good causes, but mercifully without their kvetching and self-doubt. (Sept.)