Review: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

Kresley Cole writes fun, readable books set in the world of the Lore that are always amusing if not laugh out funny.  Her characters are primarily of the fantastical type - there are Valkeries, Shifters, Demons, Sorcerers, and, of course, Vampires - and Cole has nicely crafted a detailed mythology for each race.   The series is set during the Assession, a period that occurs every 500 years when the different factions of the Lore battle it out for supremacy. 
And that time is now.  
So there is lots of action in this series, lots of adventure, and a sweet amount of sexy shenanigans.  It's a really enjoyable series and I look forward to each new installment.  When Lothaire showed up in my mailbox, I started reading it right away...

Lothaire by Kresley Cole
Immortals After Dark, #12
ISBN 1439136823
ISBN13: 9781439136829
Published January 10th 2012 by Gallery Books 
GRADE: C
Blurb: ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD
Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness—until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience. 
A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER
Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder—or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart. 
CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED
Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia-old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past . . . or risk everything for a future with her?

DNF : Bad Blood by Kristen Painter

So, I read Blood Rights, the first book in the House of Comarre series and really liked it.  Though there were some things that bothered me, they were far outweighed by all the things I did like.  An interesting, unique take on the supernatural world set in the near future.  I'm always on the lookout for a new series that can give a spin on the same old/same old and I thought I had found it with this one.

And then I read book two in the series.   
As much as I enjoyed the first, that is how little I liked the second.
So, one book I loved really liked and the other that annoyed the fuck out of me.  Third times the charm, I thought and started Bad Blood, the next book in the series.  
And I couldn't do it. 
I made it to page 166 and had to stop.  Now, it's rare for me to not finish a book.  My book obsession compels me to finish the books I start, even if it is only skim-reading them till the end.  But I couldn't even skim through this one.  I just knew that the problems I had with the characters were not going to get any better.  And I am incredibly disappointed.  I had such hopes for this series.
Below the jump, you can read what I thought about the first third of Bad Blood.

Bad Blood by Kristen Painter
House of Comarre, #3
ISBN 0316084751 
ISBN13: 9780316084758
Published December 1st 2011 by Orbit 
Grade: DNF
Blurb:  Samhain approaches, bringing with it the final melding of the mortal and othernatural worlds. No one knows just how much power the night holds...
Violent murders occur in Paradise City as counterfeit comarré are systematically hunted. The police and the Kubai Mata have more than enough trouble to keep themselves occupied. As war erupts at home, Malkolm and Chrysabelle head to New Orleans to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Chrysabelle is forced to make a life and death decision and will realize that her relationship to Malkolm may have fatal consequences.
The clock is ticking . . .

Review: Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Well, this is a exciting new entry to the vampire genre.  A dark, gothic-y tale with some intricate world building, plus a tormented hero and a dangerous heroine.  Right up my alley.  I'm not sure if I would categorize this book as urban fantasy or paranormal but since the publisher is Orbit, it's probably considered UF.  Whatever it is, I liked it.  Despite some familiar tropes, Painter's take on the world of vampires manages to be fresh, layered with a deep, rich history and the result is a multifaceted world ruled by complex power structures.


Blood Rights by Kristen Painter
House of Comarré, #1
ISBN13: 9781841499697  
Published October 1st 2011 by Orbit
Grade: B+
Back Cover Blurb: The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers. 
Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks. 
Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Bitty Reviews: Meh, Yay, Blah

Geist (Book of the Order #1) by Philippa Ballantine
I wanted to enjoy this book much more than I did. It's a complex story set in a complex world with complex characters but the end result was convoluted. The setting is one of those "days of yore" worlds commonly found in fantasy, sorta medieval but with some minor steam punk elements like dirigibles and guns thrown in which does give it a unique spin. There is a lot of detail here and the reader is introduced to some strong, flawed characters... and yet, I never felt that the characters developed any further as the story went along. 
The story moves quickly, perhaps too quickly for my tastes. We are often told details instead of shown, without the author ever laying down any real groundwork to explain the twists and turns within the character's relationships. I never felt that the characters came alive beyond their initial introduction, (as good as that may have been.) For example, trust is an issue between the three main characters. When this begins to change, I didn't buy it. Not because the characters were not worthy of each others trust but because the change in the relationships felt superficial. I accepted it because the author told us but I didn't believe it because it was not shown. I found it difficult to be emotional engaged by this story despite the fact that intellectually it is an interesting one. This is one of the few times when I felt like a book should have been longer so that the author's writing could match the depth of the world she portrayed.
Grade: C

Reviews: Blood of the Wicked & Lure of the Wicked by Karina Cooper

Blood of the Wicked by Karina Cooper

From the back cover:

When the world went straight to hell, humanity needed a scapegoat to judge, to blame . . . to burn.

As an independent witch living off the grid, Jessie Leigh has spent her life running, trying to blend in among the faceless drudges in the rebuilt city. She thought she was finally safe, but now she's been found in a New Seattle strip club—by a hard-eyed man on a mission to destroy her kind.

A soldier of the Holy Order, Silas Smith believes in the cause: trawling the fringes of society for the murderous witches who threaten what's left of the world. Forced into a twisting web of half-truths and lies, he has to stay close to the most sensuous and electrifying woman he has ever seen and manipulate her into leading him to the witch he has to kill: her brother. Silas doesn't know that Jessie's his enemy, only that he wants her, needs her, even as he lies to her . . . and must protect her until his final breath.

This is the first book in the Dark Mission series, set in the post-cataclysmic world of New Seattle.  At first glance, the author does a nice job of evoking the grim, paranoid, wet (Hey, alternate world or not – it’s still Seattle), world that has emerged after catastrophic events destroyed much of the city. It has a dark atmosphere and evocative, moody tone that I am a fan of.  New Seattle has been built over the ruins of old Seattle and what was once a diverse, vibrant city has been sharply divided between the haves and the have-nots.  The rich and well to do live in the soaring towers built over old Seattle, with security, sunlight and fresh air, while the poor and downtrodden live below in the ruins of the old city.  At least I think they do.  The book falls short when it came to describing the details that would have given me a fuller picture.  (WTF is the carousel?  Is it a futuristic highway?)  I really wish Cooper had given us more detail.  The world of Blood of the Wicked sounds kinda cool but I never felt like the descriptions went deeper than surface level and left me with only a vague picture of the setting.  I also had trouble grasping how this society works.  What exactly is the Holy Order?  How did they come into power? What is the philosophy the church has been built upon?  What’s the cause that drives them?  (Beyond killing witches, that is.) I really wanted to know more.

Bitty Reviews: 4 Urban Fantasies

Last month, my reviews focused on books that had zombies in them because... well...  I had received a shitload of books about the walking dead at BEA.  Zombies are the hot new trend and they are popping up across genres.  But woman cannot live on zombie books alone (at least I can't), and I managed to squeeze in a few non-zombie tomes to cleanse my palate.  Below are several short reviews of the latest urban fantasy offerings from some of my favorite authors.

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh.  Book 10 of the Psy/Changeling series and Hawke and Sienna's story.  I was not disappointed by this story, a testament to Singh's skill as a writer because most open-ended series lose me somewhere around book 5.  Sienna and Hawke are well matched, despite there being a 15 year age difference between the two but this is one of the few times where I wasn't rolling my eyes.  He's the alpha who can never love and she's a living weapon who's control is fracturing apart.  But the two can no longer deny the attraction between them. Their courtship progresses nicely in the book, never feeling too rushed, allowing them to work through their inner obstacles so that when they finally come together, it's as equals.  It's also smoking hot.  There is a lovely secondary romance as well, between Walker and healer Lara.  Despite being part of a series, this book works as a stand alone.  But if you haven't been reading this series, don't start with this one.  The whole series is super.  Start at the beginning.  Grade: A

Quick & Dirty Reviews: Salad Reads

Look, I'm all for artistic, literary books that promise an enriching experience but sometimes... I just want to be entertained.  Especially during those lazy, hazy days of summer when it's too hot to focus.  Or to put it another way: literature is like a fine gourmet meal, course after course, richly sauced.  In cool weather, it's satisfying and fulfilling but in the summer heat, it just makes me sleepy.  I'd much rather have a salad.  Light and tasty but just as gratifying.  Below are a couple of recommended salad reads.  
The first by Melissa de la Cruz, who is branching out from the young adult world, where she is known for her popular Blue Bloods series, (at least it says on the galley I received that is popular, I'm not actually familiar with the series myself...) and the second by Thea Harrison, who after a long sabatical away from writing romances, is now back with a brand new series.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior - Kresley Cole Quick Review

After reading a string of books that left me feeling meh, I turned to Kresley Cole's Dreams of a Dark Warrior and immediately perked up.  Cole's stories are peopled with female characters who are strong and funny, just so entertaining.  A Kresley Cole book is never dull.


Regin, a Valkyrie and Aiden, a Viking berserker are cruelly torn apart when Aiden is murdered in her arms.  But there is a curse that causes Aiden to be reborn over and over again, with no memory of his previous incarnations.  He will only regain his memory when he kisses Regin and then he will die again, shortly after making love to her for the first time.  See, that's why it's a curse.


This time around Aiden has been reborn as Declan Chase, enemy and torturer of the Lore.  And when I say torture I mean things like vivisection on conscious victims.  Declan hates anyone and anything that has to do with the Lore.  His goal is eradication.  Regin recognizes that Declan is Aidan.  To stop his barbaric practices she can manipulate him into remembering who is really is but in doing so, she signs his death warrant.  Talk about conflict...


There is a dark tenor to this book (Dude!  Stone cold vivisection!), that worked for me.  It made the stakes really high and kept me riveted to the page.  When the hero is a violent, damaged junky, a hearts and flowers story just doesn't cut it.


However, I didn't quite buy the HEA for these two characters.  It happened to soon.  I think when your lover has perpetuated heinous acts upon your kind, it takes more than a big grovel to make amends - even if he had a good reason to act the way he did. That's the kind of thing that takes time, lots and lots of time.


But, I was entertained by this book.  I love Cole's characters and the world they inhabit.  I love that the characters are more than humans with magic powers, they have their own morality and sense of justice.  This is the 11th book in the series and it is still going strong.  I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.
Grade: B +

Quick & Dirty Reviews

I'm working some crazy hours this week so I don't have as much time to write reviews, (although I still manage to find time to read books.)  So here's some brief thoughts on a few books I've read.


Game Over by Taylor Keating:  This is an interesting hybrid of styles.  There are shapeshifters, fae, mystical guardians, a post apocalyptic world, and a cyberpunk setting.  River, the heroine, is a gamer sucked into the VR world she has created for her newest game.  This world is also somehow linked to the virtual prison of the Dark Lord, the big bad.  The Dark Lord suspects River has some sort of power that will help release him from his prison and manipulates the game in order to win River's soul and ultimately, his freedom.  Luckily, River has help in the form of the Guardian, Hawk, who although imprisoned in this virtual world, works with River to defeat the Dark Lord.  There is some nice pacing in this book and a lot of action, plus some steamy steamy between River and Hawk... but, in the end, the book didn't work for me.  The paranormal fantasy and technological elements just didn't mesh.  I felt like I was reading a cross between Lord of the Rings and Tron and the effect was jarring.  There were so many different style elements that it felt a little like everything but the kitchen sink instead of a cohesive, multi-layered world.  I think that if a reader can get past that, this could be an enjoyable, action paced, sexy paranormal.  Unfortunately, I could not and I never fully engaged with this story.  Grade: C .          


Primal Bonds (Shifters Unbound) by Jennifer Ashley:  In Ashley's world, shifters are forced to live in shanty towns and wear a collar that causes them extreme pain when they get aggressive.  They can't own new cars, they are limited in their ability to use the internet, they are forbidden to ride in airplanes, and crimes committed against them are often ignored by law enforcement.  When half fae/half wolf shifter Andrea joins the Austin pack she must first get permission from the authorities before making the move.  Fleeing an unwanted mating with a stereotypical douchebag, she agrees to a mate-claim with Guardian Sean Morrissey sight unseen.  Good thing he's hot, as well as hot for her and ready to turn their mate-claim-in-name-only into the real thing.  Sean and Andrea are a well matched couple.  Both are strong characters and I like the fact that Andrea is able to hold her own with the dominant Sean.  And yet, I'm sorta torn on this series.  One the one hand, I find Ashley's take on shifters refreshing, one the other hand, it is also depressing.  Shifters have very few rights and are second class citizens.  And humanity is the oppressor.  Whenever a character left Shiftertown, I kept expecting them to be the victim of a hate crime.  There is an ugliness to this world and it made me uncomfortable... but I also found it intriguing.  I'll be interested to see where she goes with it.   Grade: B