Last week I emailed Jody all excited about this piece of news I had read on The Spellman Files Facebook page:

One result of Lisa and the Spellman’s recent break from each other is “Heads You Lose,” a mystery she co-wrote with David Hayward. It’ll hit stores in April 2011. Fear not, Spellman faithful: Lisa is currently “hard at work” on Spellman V: The Wrath of the Spellmans (okay, that’s not the real title), slated for a spring 2012 release.

A fifth book! As it turns out, Jody already knew there’d be a fifth book but I had gone into the last book, The Spellmans Strike Again, thinking it was the last we’d hear of the Spellmans. And it felt like a conclusion so it seemed to match my expectations. But I’m super excited that we’ll be getting at least one more book. I love these characters and I can’t wait to spend a little more time with them.

Which is why I’m both super stoked and somewhat apprehensive about the other Spellman File development announced this week… ABC is considering picking up a pilot based on the series!!

There is a small part of me that’s a little worried I’m too attached to these characters and that I won’t be able to handle someone else’s vision of them but I’ve always felt like the series would be perfect for the small screen. Due, in no small part, I’m sure to Lisa Lutz’s background in TV. Although, if I’m being honest, I still think it’s a better fit for USA than ABC. But when it comes to network TV ABC is definitely more accepting of quirkiness in a show and I’m hoping that means they won’t want to change too much of Lisa’s concept. Also, I’m big fan of Greg Yaitanes’ work so I trust that he’ll do right by the Spellmans. Just the fact that Lisa will be involved in a consulting position is a huge relief to me.

It’s way too early to be getting excited about a Spellman Files TV show, more projects never make it out of these development talks than do, but I’ve got my fingers crossed they at least get to make a pilot. And, ahem, as intriguing as it was to imagine Kristen Bell as Marilyn Munster, I’d much rather see her as Isabel Spellman. It’ll never happen but my inner Veronica Mars fangirl can dream!

Primeval: Extinction Event
by Dan Abnett

When my buddy at Titan Books offered this book to me for review, I had no idea it based on an existing TV show. Don’t laugh at me. It seems obvious in retrospect but I clearly hadn’t been paying attention when people were talking about Primeval and the description of the book I read had me thinking it was a set of new books from the writers of the BBC series. Not that it was actually tied to the series itself.

Not that it really matters. I just wanted to make sure you understood how I came into the book. So that you’d believe me when I say the book was so great, I immediately needed to see the series. As in, I actually went to Best Buy that night in hopes that they’d have it. Luckily (for my wallet), they didn’t but I’ve been catching up via Netflix.

The good thing about this is that it means you don’t have to have seen the series to enjoy the book. Though I will caution that the book takes place during what I think is the lull between Season 2 and Season 3 of the show (S3 having just started). I could be wrong about the exact timing but it seems to make sense since the book hinted at things that I’ve discovered about halfway through my viewing or what is the end of Season 1. And based on the characters in the book, I think there’s even more I have yet to see on the show…

To read more check out my full review over at Ramblings of a TV Whore.

Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 3
by Nicholas Knight

Did y’all hear me squeal with delight when Tom from Titan Books contacted me and wondered if I might be interested in reviewing Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 3. I’m pretty sure it was loud enough to be heard around the world. Or throughout the Central Florida area at least. I do love my Winchesters and nothing pleases me more than to spend a night getting cozy with them.

But how is the book you ask? Pretty darn awesome.

Granted, it’s definitely for fans of the show but then I don’t know why you’d pick up this book if you weren’t a fan. Perhaps anyone writing a Supernatural spec script would find it helpful since it, like listening to DVD commentaries and reading interviews, gives you a small glimpse at the writing process for the show. I, however, am a fan and this review is going to be from that perspective.

To read more and for your chance to win a copy of Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 3, check out my full review over at Ramblings of a TV Whore.

Burn Notice
Tod Goldberg

Alas, there’s no new Burn Notice tonight. What’s a girl to do when she needs her weekly fix of Michael Westen?! Well, how about reading The Fix, the new Burn Notice novel?

I’ve never really hidden the fact that I’m not really into fan fiction. And, yes, I know that didn’t stop me from reading my fair share or even writing some when I was obsessed with Veronica Mars and couldn’t get those characters out of my head. Still, I just don’t get into anything that deviates from canon. That’s not a dig on fanfic writers, it’s just a personal preference. I’m only interested in the story that the creators are unfolding for me and, more and more, I realize I almost always prefer characters to be presented in the format in which I first encountered them. It’s the same reason I don’t get very excited when a favorite book is being turned into a movie. (Though, ironically, I can sometimes visualize book series as TV shows.)

But I’m getting sidetracked. The point here is that I’ve never been tempted by TV show novels. Even though they are typically acknowledged and have the blessing of the show creators, they still can’t be considered canon and I don’t like to commit that amount of time to a story that I’m then going to have to forget happened when watching the show.

So imagine my surprise when I walked by the Burn Notice book in B&N the other day and I actually stopped to pick it up. It’s that damn publicity photo of Michael and Fiona. I’m powerless to resist it! That and my curiosity. I cracked it up figuring I’d just check out the first couple of pages, see how it compared to the show.

Ten minutes later I was debating adding it to my already insane pile of books. I didn’t, for the record. Decided that if the story really stuck with me, I’d remember it and pick it up during my next trip to the store. Of course, the caveat here being that I am in the freaking bookstore every other day. It’s not like I was going to be forced to remember it for very long. But I did. The next time I stopped in, it was the reason…

Read the rest of this review over at RTVW Online.