Archive for January, 2010
Librarian Jane Jameson is having a lousy day. Her boss, in a fit of nepotism, just gave her job away to a family member. To add insult to injury, her severance pay is a gift certificate to the local bar. So Jane does what any self-respecting, recently fired, unlucky in love 30-something female would do: she bellies up to the local bar to drink away her sorrows.
A sexy and sympathetic vampire named Gabriel happens to be hanging out nearby and after listening to her story, gets her sober and helps her to her car. Unfortunately for Jane, her car quits halfway home; to top off a really crappy day, she gets accidentally shot by a drunk hunter who mistakes her for a potential wall trophy. Gabriel, following her to make sure she gets home safely, sees the accident and comes to her aid. Since Jane is near death he gives her a choice: she can either die now or be “turned” and come back as the undead. She chooses Door Number Two.
Suddenly, the loss of her job is the least of her problems. She now has to learn what it means to be a vampire. Fortunately, vampires are completely “out” and there’s a synthetic blood product available that doesn’t taste too bad. But while trying to deal with her new condition, her newly dead aunt appears as her roommate. She has to forget about her favorite Southern-fried cooking and settle for cold bags of blood. She has to struggle through the daylight hours and pretend to actually still be breathing. And her mother won’t stop asking annoyingly pointed questions.
Jane’s also being framed for a vamp murder, and she better locate the real killer quick before she’s targeted by the entire vampire community. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Gabriel is one most girls can relate to, and provides heat and chemistry that smolders throughout the book.
Jane, isn’t just another one-dimensional character, though. She’s portrayed as a normal, nice girl, not overly neurotic, who loves to read, is kind to babies and small animals, and puts up with her bad-mannered family with aplomb.
Harper fleshes out other likable characters with a tongue-in-cheek approach , including Jane’s best friend Zeb, who’s in love with a werewolf named Jolene, and Dick Cheney, a bad-boy vamp with a crush on Jane. The tale is told in Jane’s sarcastically witty voice.
If you have any sense of humor, you will enjoy this read, and will no doubt want to read Harper’s next installments, Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men and Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever. But first, start by getting Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs!
Lover Awakened is the third book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood vampire romance book series by J.R. Ward. Those of you who have read the previous novels know of the conflict between the “Lessers” (rogue vampires) and the vampires. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a band of six warrior vampires who are the self-sworn protectors of the remaining vampire population, and their story is a dark one.
This book focuses on Zsadist (Z), one of the most dangerous yet intriguing of the brothers. With a history of being a blood slave for a female aristocratic vampire, he has experienced the worst abuse imaginable, including physical, sexual, and mental abuse. As a consequence, his heart is cold and his soul is scarred. However, a strange turn of events finds him tending to a female vampire whose presence unsettles him and affects him emotionally.
Bella is an aristocratic vampire that was kidnapped by the Lessers. Because of the reputation of the Lessers Bella’s family had given up on looking for her. However, Z decides to use his skills to track her down; he perseveres until he finds her held captive underground in a tight metal cylinder. Z is able to free Bella and takes her to his mansion to keep her safe. It’s ironic that he should fall for someone who is of the same clan that was responsible for his torture, but perhaps it’s befitting. While recuperating Bella tries to get closer to Z and to gain access to a part of him that was closed-off to the rest of the world a long time ago. Readers will be pulled in by Bella and Z’s dramatic relationship and will be excited to find out their fate.
The intense character development adds thought to an already engaging book. While most of the book focuses on Z, we also see a glimpse into his twin brother Phury’s world that shows his inner self to be just as bleak as Z’s in some aspects. Phury is a fellow member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood who rescued Z from his bitter fate many years ago. Phury’s blind devotion to his brother causes him to be a silent victim, as he backs off and locks up his own attraction to Bella.
In addition to the noteworthy character development, the storyline in Lover Awakened holds its own. The plot progresses smoothly with several heart-pounding and heart-wrenching events as well as sinuous twists and turns.
Lover Awakened is a must-read; it’s a hybrid of adventure, suspense, and romance. J. R. Ward has written another strong addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood paranormal romance book series.
You MUST get Lover Awakened and experience the sweet romance that develops between Z and Bella. Don’t hesitate – I know you’ll love this vampire romance book!
The first book in the Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost, has always been one of my favorite urban fantasy novels, so I was thrilled to see the latest in the series ready for purchase - Destined for an Early Grave. We all know that awesomely excellent feeling you get when you see that the next book in a series - a series that you know is a good one - is available. I bought it immediately! This ire book series has some of the hottest sex scenes I’ve read - and I’ve read a lot! Ms. Frost does such a good job of making you want to be Cat. She is vulnerable, sexy, strong, unsure, and wanted - wanted by Bones in a major way that’s still believable after four novels.
In Destined for an Early Grave, we have Cat and Bones still comfortably head over heels for each other. Cat is a part vampire/part human vampire killer and Bones is a several hundred year old Master Vampire. You don’t doubt him and his feelings. I’ve not felt that a man’s emotions were so genuine since Noah told Allie in The Notebook, “I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.” Of course, this was right after Noah built a house for her.
Unlike Bones, Cat is still harboring some trust issues. Who wouldn’t, considering the fact that she’s the daughter of a vampire father and a human mother who was raped by that very same vampire. As such Cat is unable to show Bones any vulnerability; what if Bones knows how much he could hurt her? We’ve all been there - you duck and cover. And as you can imagine, Bones is astute enough to sense that Cat is holding back a piece of herself from him – something he has a hard time understanding.
But, I digress, sorry. Back to the book review.
In this installment, Cat is starting to have nightmares which trouble Bones. At first, she keeps them to herself, unaware of the danger inherent in having another vampire state that she belongs to him during her dreams. The “dream vampire”, Gregor, claims that he and Cat were married before she married Bones. Huh? How could this happen? I won’t give that away but it’s certainly worth the read. While the plot could have become confusing with memory replacement and timeline issues, I have to hand it to the author, she kept me reading.
With this book, you’ll get lots of great action and see all the other characters from the previous novels - Vlad, Tate, Spade, Ian - plus a few new ones to love and/or hate. And, there are quite a few surprises that keep things hopping. Whether you’ve read any of the other Night Huntress vampire books or not, you can read this as a standalone novel since it’s complete and interesting enough to stand on its own. As usual, Jeaniene Frost does not disappoint.
Finally - the wait is over and I just got book three in Adrian Phoenix’s Maker’s Song series, Beneath the Skin!
And, as I have seen with the first two vampire books in this series, each book just keeps getting better and better. I was so glad to read about my favorite couple again, FBI agent Heather Wallace and Dante Baptiste, a vampire (nightkind) and a creator (creawdwr). In this story, Heather has basically given up her old life as an agent to be with Dante. She has become the anchor in his life as government agents, fallen angels, and vampires all pursue him to find out exactly what he can do as well as discover a way to control him.
As Dante’s powers become stronger, it is too much for him to handle and when these new powers are combined with the horrible memories of his past, he is close to going insane. Unfortunately, his father, Lucien, a Fallen angel, is gone. Lucien had protected Dante from the day his powers first made themselves known. Without Lucien’s protection, the other Fallen are now after Dante. Dante is their chosen one - their Fallen Maker. But do they truly revere him or do they want to possess him?
Enter the vampires. They’re also interested in Dante because they believe he’s their True Blood prince. Here again, are they interested in acknowledging him as their leader or do they have a hidden agenda?
And lastly, a secret branch of the government has become aware of Dante and his powers. They’re curious about whether he can be used for their own purposes; if this proves unsuccessful they’re not above killing him since they’re not sure if his powers can be controlled.
This book was bit darker than the other two vampire novels - but the relationship between Heather and Dante is much more powerful than it was in either of the previous novels. They have cemented their love and passion for each other and every time I read a description of Dante through Heather’s eyes, I can actually picture the best looking man she has ever seen. I really like these two as a couple. For a series that began as a serial killer mystery I’m quite pleased that it has become so much more than that – an entertaining and engaging storyline that absorbs you completely. The ending of Beneath the Skin is just like the other books – it left me wishing the next vampire book was out already!
Get a copy of Beneath The Skin and get your vamp groove on.
See also: In The Blood, book #2 in the series.
At Grave's End
Did you notice I said “almost”?
As you progress through the book you start to see that there are so many obstacles put in Cat’s path one has to wonder if she’s going to make it. It’s a lot like trying to get into Walmart the day after Thanksgiving: as those people trample you on their quest to get the $35 DVD player you’re wishing you had a strong bodyguard around keep you from harm. The same applies to Cat in this book - without Bones, how will she survive?
At Grave’s End has its share of entertaining subplots. Cat finds that it’s getting easier for rogue vampires to recognize her. Someone close (biologically speaking) to Cat would like to see her head on a skewer. An evil and extremely powerful female vampire from Bones’ past wants to change his status from undead to permanently dead. And an armageddon-like vampire war looming on the horizon will force vampires to choose between good and evil.
Cat and Bones have a lot on their plates.
An interesting twist in the book is the interplay between Cat and Tate, a member of Cat’s elite vampire killing super-squad who shows constant devotion to her no matter how off-putting she is. The way he expresses his feelings for her will make you think “hmmn, what if….?” But that won’t happen because Bones is the central vampire in Cat’s life, even though her fellow squad members disdain him. Still, the exchanges between Bones and Tate are engaging.
This vampire book book contains lots of fast-paced action sequences which is nicely rounded out by dashes of witty banter and suspense. And speaking of suspense, the new villain introduced in this story was nicely done and kept me guessing to the very end.
As with previous books in the series the writing is tight, the storyline is engaging and the characters are believable and well fleshed out. You can’t go wrong with Jeaniene Frost. She writes some of the best vampire books on the market. Vampire book lovers will definitely appreciate At Grave’s End, the 3rd entry in the Night Huntress vampire book series.
In the Blood is Book Two in the Maker’s Song series by Adrian Phoenix. I was seriously impressed by Book One - A Rush of Wings - and I have not been let down by the sequel. When I wrote my original review of Rush of Wings, I talked about what a great vampire movie it would make. Book Two continues that thought process unchanged. Often, a sequel to a movie or a book is a disappointment, but this is not true with In the Blood.
The story picks up right where the first one left off. Special Agent Heather Wallace is putting her life back together after killing the Cross Country Killer in a heinous lab that had been running a program called “Bad Seed”. Both the now dead killer and her romantic interest, Dante Prejean, had been a part of the Bad Seed program. Dante is a nightkind (vampire) and creator with powers to make or unmake life. There were so many mysteries and atrocities performed in the Bad Seed program that it was a blessing when she and Dante destroyed it along with its creator, Dr. Johanna Moore. Unfortunately, another doctor involved with the Bad Seed program, Dr. Robert Wells, wants to pick up where his dead boss left off.
Dr. Wells was a partner in the Bad Seed program and was the one who “programmed” Dante when he was a child. He holds the key to controlling Dante and he wants to use Dante’s special powers to save his dying wife. Enlisting his son, Alex (who he has also genetically modified) to help him get Dante to their home, Dr. Wells wants to force him to perform his miracle of creation and save his wife. Of course, with a power like that, there are others who seek out Dante, none of them good. I mean, world domination (be it human or supernaturally controlled) is never a good thing.
Heather had been saved by Dante after the shootout at the lab in the first book and it’s given the two of them a special bond. However, even with their unique bond, Heather has decided to separate herself from Dante for awhile. There’s only one problem with that plan: neither can stay away from the other. They soon decide that with events on the horizon that could destroy their lives, it’s important that they fight together as one.
If you were facing something that could kill you, wouldn’t you want to fight it with the one person you loved the most in the world?
Adrian Phoenix takes us into a world with tremendous passion and caring combined with evil beyond comprehension. In the Blood is a complex story that leaves you begging for more. I have to admit that when I finished the book, I was a little sad because I knew I was going to have to wait for the next fantasy book to come out. Having become so immersed in the action, I was not a happy camper when I hit the last page. Stay tuned for my review of the next fantasy book in the series - Beneath The Skin!
Check out In The Blood, available from online retailers.
