cover image Mona Lisa Blossoming: A Novel of the Monre

Mona Lisa Blossoming: A Novel of the Monre

Sunny, . . Berkley, $14 (246pp) ISBN 978-0-425-21433-6

In this at times hilarious but slight sequel to Sunny's erotic paranormal debut, Mona Lisa Awakening (2006), Mona Lisa, a "Mixed Blood Queen" who's part human and part Monère (a humanoid race that originally came from the moon), moves from Manhattan to the New Orleans area to reign over 423 Monère. Lisa, who can change into a Bengal tiger and heal through intimate relations, learns much about Monère culture, but the matriarchal clan's history and their plans for Earth are never sufficiently explained, nor is there much of a plot other than a turf battle between Lisa and Mona Louisa, a rival queen from Mississippi, who despises Lisa's tainted blood. The sex scenes range from the extremely passionate to the repulsively beastly. Hopefully, the next installment will have a more cohesive story line. (Feb.)