Vampire Blood Series by Juliette Cross - on sale

If you like paranormal romance and you haven't discovered Juliette Cross yet, allow me to introduce you. I had the pleasure of reviewing this four-part series for RT. In addition to offering a fresh take on some favorite fairy tales (no really, everyone always says that but these really are fresh and twisty), and some dark vampire horror, the underlying theme of women demanding to be heard and recognized vibrates with right-now relevancy. All four titles are available at a great sale price right now, so it seems like a good moment to re-post these reviews.

But seriously though, what about those covers? I love that there is variety. And while I have zero -- repeat, ZERO-- issues with some naked male chests, I have to admit that Emerald there is my favorite. Mmm mmm.



THE BLACK LILY
Juliette Cross
Four Stars
HOT

Cinderella meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets revolution in this fresh take on familiar tropes. Cross debuts her new paranormal fairy tale series with a brave and clever heroine, a Grimm Brothers-esque mysterious forest—and vampires. The world that Cross builds is layered, and we get tantalizing hints about what the forest might reveal in future books, including a killer plot twist. The fairy tale trappings are familiar with a modern horror treatment. Marius’ altruism feels a bit stiff, which detracts a little from the chemistry, but overall a solid offering for fans of dark sexy vampires and fairy tales.

SUMMARY: As the leader of the rebellion against the vampire aristocracy, Arabelle cannot afford to fall in love with its youngest prince. Conceding that he may not be a mindless murdering monster goes against her entire life’s ambition. On Marius’ part, falling in love with and nearly being murdered by the same fascinating woman serves as a turning point. As he discovers just why she wanted him dead, he learns more than he bargained for about his life of privilege.


THE RED LILY
Juliette Cross
Four and a Half Stars, Top Pick
HOT

There's no sophomore slump in this dark fairy tale adventure series! When Red Riding Hood and her guardian wolves meet a renegade vampire who fights for the commoner, it's anything but a routine re-telling. Fans of Kelley Armstrong will find a similar blend of horror and legend, with a bonus complete romance. The connection between these two is strong and hot, and their mission is compelling. Layers of intriguing world-building are revealed and open up some great possible future directions - this series could go anywhere. Cross doesn't pull punches with the brutality of her war, so be wary about reading it at bedtime.

SUMMARY: Powerful magic grounds Sienna to the forest where she is protected, but greater need calls her abroad where she is vulnerable. She'll need a powerful protector, and Nikolai is just the vampire for the job. As they travel from town to town, recruiting for the army of the Black Lily and sowing insurrection against an incredibly strong, incredibly evil villain, they are in danger at every turn. But the greatest risk they'll face is to reveal their secrets - and their hearts - to each other.


THE WHITE LILY
Juliette Cross
Three Stars
SCORCHING

Readers who are coming back for more of the heat and passion found in the first two books of Cross’s fairytale/vampire mashup will be more than pleased with The White Lily. Passion takes the main stage between these two characters and their love scenes burn up the pages. But the characters lack a clear mission outside of Dominick wanting Brennalyn in bed, and Brennalyn wanting to take care of the seven orphans she’s collected. The vampire spin on Snow White lacks the magic and tension of the earlier offerings, but turns up the erotic content noticeably. A bit more of the White Lily’s insurrectionist activities on the page for the reader would go a long way to livening up her character as well as the plot.

SUMMARY: Dominick is a powerful vampire, descended from generations of cruelty. Brennalyn, abandoned for her infertility, is dedicated to protecting her adopted family, and providing a better future – even if it means revolution. When Dominick discovers that a rebel has put his dukedom in the crosshairs of a vengeful, cruel king, he knows he must find the White Lily before the king does. When it turns out to be the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, he’ll question everything he thought he knew about how to manage his life.


THE EMERALD LILY
Juliette Cross
Four Stars
Hot

The Vampire Blood series peaks in this fourth book, bringing the war of the Lilies versus Queen Morgrid to a dramatic conclusion. While this book may be read alone, it will spoil the earlier books in the series, so reading in order is a good idea. Cross has built a world of good and evil, blood and cruelty, and the mysterious power of love. Mikhail is a worthy hero: focused, disciplined, and dedicated to the higher good, but Mina steals the show. Her story is one of realizing and claiming feminine power, as Sleeping Beauty awakes in more than one sense of the word. Her clarity of character, her drive and purpose embody the word “regal,” and this queen slays. It’s tough to pull off a series climax, but The Emerald Lily delivers the plot, the politics and edge-of-seat tension that this excellent paranormal romance series deserves. A number of scenes will recall the classic Sleeping Beauty of childhood, but Cross flips them and subverts them and makes them her own.

SUMMARY: Princess Vilhelmina Dragomir has defied the evil Queen Morgrid, and sentenced to a torturous vampiric coma of nightmare and starvation for her trouble. Powerful friends arrange for her escape, but the only way out of the bloodless sleep is by the blood kiss. Captain Mikhail Romanov will do everything he must to save her, but the indelible bond that forms when he gives her that kiss wreaks havoc on his duty and his mission to take down Morgrid. The most powerful kind of love is never convenient, but nothing else is strong enough to prevail over the evil threatening their world.

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These reviews appeared previously in RT Magazine.

The King, by JR Ward - Review (sort of)

Information
Title: The King
Author: J. R. Ward
Publisher:  NAL
Imprint: Penguin Group
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Reviewing: Kindle ebook
Reason for reading: JR, I can't quit you.

The Short Answer 
I think you have to be a pretty hard-core fan of the series to enjoy this particular book.  Which I am, and I did, but there were also a lot of things that were kind of... terrible.

Series Handicap:
This is a tough one to answer. Because there was not very much going on with the brothers, the handicap might actually be fairly low. You'll be totally lost on the Sola/Assail arc, and have missed some key things with the Xcor/Layla arc... but the King's story stands alone pretty well, actually.  On the other hand, this is probably not the best intro to the world and to JR Ward. I'd give it a 3 of 5, I guess, which is kind of a cop-out number. ;-)

Ye Olde Vocabulary
Someone should really put a shock collar on JRW and set it to taser her every time she writes something involving the words "partake" or "unto."  Scenes written in this psuedo-historical narration have been cringe-worthy since the first book and I honestly think they're getting worse. Interestingly, The King starts with a flashback scene featuring our Wrath's father, Wrath. You had to read a few pages into it before you were sure that it was the previous King Wrath, and I think the Olde-Timeyness of the language was deliberately toned down... and it was so much better than other scenes where it was not.

Stop the Madness
This was in the first chapter after the prologue, in Wrath's point of view:

...he was fully capable of going wrecking-ball to get at her. And not in the stupid-ass Miley Cyrus poser-sex way...

I refuse to believe that Miley Cyrus plays any part in the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Period. I am excising the three (THREE!!) references from my brain.  It never happened. We won't speak of it again.

Wrath and Beth
This book was aptly titled, because Wrath really was the centerpiece, and he has a lot of work to do.  If Dark Lover was something of a coming of age story for Beth, this is one for Wrath. He comes to terms with the value of his kingship, his blindness, and his future in general.  He does some things in this book that I think are long overdue in the world-building, and it is a good thing indeed.  However, I would've liked to have seen more of the reactions from his populace -- both the commoners and the glymera.  There were scenes that seem conspicuously absent in retrospect.

I also really liked the background on Wrath's father. I think this is the first "history" we get of the race that isn't from a current character's point of view -- we just get to see some stuff that happened, that (our current) Wrath was not actually part of.

Other Arcs
Like all of the books in the BDB, there is a lot going on here.  Besides the arcs with Wrath and Beth and the kingship, there is a Trez arc, an Xcor/Layla arc, and the Assail/Sola arc. If this annoys you in general about the BDB books, it's probably going to be a bigger problem than usual for you.  Of the secondary arcs, I really like how the Sola/Assail one is going, although the folks who say it seems unconnected and distracting have a point. I don't know, there's something about those two that has hooked me in a way that Xcor/Layla did not.  Trez has some interesting problems to get handled too; I'm looking forward to that story (which is apparently going to be in the next book, according to announcements made at Saturday's Cincinnati signing for The King (you can find the transcript at JR Ward's Facebook page).

Unfortunately, I found the Xcor/Layla pairing to be pretty much just terrible all around.  Xcor does a wholly unbelievable 180 degree character turn, and not much else other than pining and thinking.  Although one of the best moments was when he was buying a new wardrobe and the clerk at Macy's looks him up and down and says, "You're not from around here, are you?" I cracked up.

Are people still arguing about whether the BDB books are romances? This one is probably less in that mold than any so far.  I have always staunchly said: "YES, they definitely are!" but the romance is less central to this book than any so far.

Bottom Line
I think this book could have done with fewer side-arcs and deeper treatment of the kingship arc -- it felt like a lot of things were glossed over.  The things that I don't like about JR Ward are present and accounted for and just as unlikeable in this book -- the annoying Olde Timey-speak and the fact that everyone has essentially the same voice, primarily. But it is still somehow a can't-put-it-down story that kinda makes me want an oversized, over-testosteroned-up vampire of my own.

Around the Blogosphere:
Interview with JR Ward
Vampire Book Club
Cocktails and Books
Under the Covers

As always, if you have reviewed this book feel free to leave a link in comments!

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 28 - Things About the ChicagoLand Vampires

OK, as promised a couple of weeks ago, I opened up the first book of Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampire series and then... I did not come up for air for a week until I had blazed through all five of the currently-released books.

I would love to do a series review for you but unfortunately, the two-by-four-to-the-head endings of the last two books make it pretty much impossible to do that without spoilering.  God only knows what's in store for the remaining books!  So instead of a review, here are Thirteen Random Thoughts about Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires Series:

1. Right from page one, Merit's narration pulled me straight in.  In the first 20 pages, we get an amazing amount of information about the world-building, the people closest to her, and the immediate events and it never feels dry or info-dumpy; every piece enticed me to learn more.

2. Helen, the... concierge? Den mother? character cracks me up.  I don't know whether to love her or hate her.  She definitely inspires both.

3. Merit, the unwillingly-turned, bookworm grad student cum vampire warrior, is pretty angsty for a chick.  Usually it's the boys that are filled with teh angst.  Also, she doesn't have red hair.  Does the Urban Fantasy Kick-Ass Heroine Committee know about this?

4. Every single male character in this series is ...well... you know, I try to keep this blog at a PG-13 level, but the only word that is really RIGHT for this sentence is: fuckable.  Even the bad guys.  I wanted them all.  Bring ice.

5. I did a stint as a University of Chicago grad student myself, back in the day.  MERIT COULD HAVE BEEN ME.

6. I really miss Chicago-style pizza.  It is not the same in Seattle.  At all.  Yes, this actually is relevant to the books because the way Neill talks about food is almost as drool-inducing as the way she talks about men.  Mmmm.

7. It took me a little while to let go of the idea that an older vampire implies a more powerful vampire, despite the world-building mentions of ratings in Phys, Psy, and Strat strengths for the newbies vamps.  Such is the power of the prevailing mythology, which means my suspension of disbelief falters a little bit with the whole "English Lit Grad Student becomes the Most Powerful Warrior of Them All" transformation.

8. The villain in book 5 hurt my heart a little bit.  I hope book 6 fixes it.

9. Not sure I buy the whole big shocker thing in book 5.  You know what I mean (no spoilers in comments, please!)  It was a little cheaty-feeling, but on the other hand, very happy-making.  So, I'm kind of on the fence about that, to be honest.

10. I enjoy the hints of political machinations, but despite a lot of set up in the first books, it did not seem like the Houses really had much pull.  I would like to see what happens when they pull in favors.  Why don't they have insiders with the press and the politicians?

11. The ending to book #4, Hard Bitten, hit me like a two-by-four to the head.  I immediately downloaded #5, Drink Deep.

12. Then Neill DID IT AGAIN with book #5.  So unfair!

13. I know exactly what I'm going to be reading on August 7.  And if you like vampires at all, you should be doing the exact same thing.  If you start now, you have plenty of time to get caught up with the series.

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Find more Thirteeners at Thursday-13.  Participants are welcome and encouraged to leave links in comments.

Under a Vampire Moon, by Lynsay Sands - Review

More Avon Loot
I tried one of the Argeneau vampire stories a couple of years ago, and I liked it well enough, but for whatever reason, never managed to dive into the series.  This month, the Addicts received a copy of Under a Vampire Moon, along with a beach ball, some margarita mix, and recipes for snacks.  Hmmm.  What is Avon trying to tell us??  There was a Twitter party last week to talk about the story but I was unable to attend, so I'm attempting to make up for it here.

At this point, the series is on to the SIXTEENTH story, with a seventeenth  due out later this summer.  I'm glad I gave the series another try because it was a lot of fun.

Unlike many vampire romances, this story was not terribly dark or angsty (it's like Sands didn't get the memo, heh).  It's paced  like a straight contemporary, moving lightly from one scene to the next.  It's a quick, fun, perfect-for-the-beach read.

 Series Handicap: 0.5 on a scale of 0 to 5
I just made that up.  But you have to wonder if you're going to be completely lost if you jump into a series at book #16.  In my opinion, this is not a worry.  I can't speak for the rest of the series (obviously) but this book stands pretty well alone.  There were a few references that seemed to assume prior knowledge, but they were minor and were explained by the end.  If you haven't read 1-15, don't let that stop you from giving this cute story a whirl.  The only aspect that I would like to understand better is Christian's relationship with his mother.  There was definitely a backstory there, and I would've liked a little more on it.  It didn't keep me from enjoying the romance, but  prologue, maybe, or something might've been nice.

Characters
Christian... ah, Christian Notte.  He's a 500 year old Italian vampire who plays rock violin and does ...something businessy... as a day job.  Which made his internal vocabulary somewhat mystifying.  His voice is pretty much indistinguishable from Carolyn's or anyone else's in the story, right down to the choice of "Cripes" as a swear word.  Really?  Cripes? That was a headscratcher for me.

I did enjoy Carolyn quite a lot, and I identified with her age concerns and some of her general outlook.  I have to say, it wasn't really clear to me exactly what it was about these two that made them perfect for each other, but luckily there are nanos, mind-reading relatives, and a super-nova white-hot attraction so there was no real need to wonder.  OK, that sounds slightly snarky, and it kind of is... the pacing and the humor propel the story forward but I wasn't completely wowed by the characters.

The secondaries-- this was a colorful and entertaining crew.  Marguerite and Julian are on their honeymoon, when Marguerite suddenly realizes that Carolyn is the life-mate for her son Christian.  How does she know this?  I don't know, apparently it's a vampire thing.  Er, immortal thing.  Vampires are a myth.  Anyway, she gets things rolling and between her and Julian and Gia (Christian's cousin), they keep Christian on the right track, not letting him get too far wrong with Carolyn.  If you think too hard about your mom and dad being able to read your and your mate's mind about your explosive sexual attraction, you might... OK, don't think too hard about that.  As long as you stick to the light and funny, which is certainly where this whole book is targeted, it works OK.

Plotline
Basically, the whole story is set up as a farce, with the entire Notte family conspiring to reel Carolyn in.  In order to give Christian time to get to know Carolyn, and keep her from bolting, Gia tells her that Christian is gay and needs a beard.  The story wears suspiciously thin to Carolyn at times, but judicious application of alcohol, special (IYKWIMAITYD) dreams, and mind reading, the goal is pretty much achieved.  If you liked the Friends episodes featuring Ross and Rachel, this story is right in that pocket.

The big reveal is also fairly painless, as those "mortal realizing new boyfriend/girlfriend is a vampire" types of scenes go.  The book in general is rather low-conflict, and more about Carolyn coming out of her shell than a high-drama roller-coaster, which is an unusual choice for a vampire romance IME, but it works.

On The Whole
Under a Vampire Moon probably won't rock your world, but it's a perfect companion for a beachy afternoon with sunglasses, hot sand under your toes, and an icy-tart margarita close by.  Check it out if you're in the market for a beach read.

Around the Blogosphere
Buckeye Girl Reads
Paranormal Haven
Fellow Addict Amy at Unwrapping Romance
The Book Pushers
Helyce at Smexy Books
Fellow Addict Lisarenee at Seduced by a Book

As always, if you have reviewed this book and would like to be added, just let me know in comments or email and I'd be happy to edit you in.

Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil, by Barbara Monajem - Review

Publisher's Pledge
In Dorchester's press release about their new marketing program, the Publisher's Pledge, there's a quote kind of buried in the middle that makes me really happy:

“Our strength has been identifying emerging voices and trends in the industry rather than chasing bestsellers. Our intent is to reestablish ourselves in the market as the publisher authors and agents turn to first to introduce new talent. " (Brooke Borneman, Director of Sales and Marketing.)

I just really like that there are publishers out there that are specifically looking to give aspiring authors their big break. The bottom line on the Publisher's Pledge is YOUR bottom line: according to the note in the review copy,

Dorchester's Publisher's Pledge program is our way of identifying particularly special books by giving readers a risk-free guarantee. We feel so strongly about Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil, we're willing to pay a full refund to anyone who doesn't find it everything they want in a paranormal fantasy.

Well. That's promising, isn't it?

I don't know if I've been getting burned out on paranormals or what, but I've been finding myself reluctant to try out new authors lately. Ho hum, another vampire. Does this one sparkle, or poof? However, I put aside my reservations and cracked this one open.

Which is all it took. One page, and I'm hooked. It's pretty hard to resist a female vampire named Ophelia Beliveau, whose chief challenge in life is fending off hapless human men who fall under her pheremone spell. Monajem manages to make this aspect of vampirism feel truly inconvenient and occasionally tragic, yet leavened with laugh-out-loud slapstick.

There's plenty of chemistry and conflict between Ophelia and Gideon and they work through it while untangling a couple of related mysteries. Plotting is tight and fast paced. I tend to think of it as a good sign when the guy I'm pretty sure dunnit turns up dead just when I'm starting to be sure. (That might sound like I'm calling it predictable, but that's not what I mean.)

I think my favorite piece of this book is the way the cast of secondary characters come alive. No doubt there will be sequels, but it really didn't feel like sequel-baiting. It felt more like Season One of a new show with a great ensemble cast, and I'm already looking forward to next season.

There's a second "moral of the story" in this post -- I need to take a page from Dorchester's book (so to speak!) and bust out of this new-author-reluctance I've fallen into lately. I'm not always like this, and I should snap out of it already! Truthfully, I love more new authors than I hate, and I like lots more. And the last couple that I've taken a chance on have been really really excellent.

Who have you discovered lately?

Other Reviews:

Janicu
Patricia's Vampire Notes
The Deepening
Vampire News

Note: if you have reviewed this book, feel free to leave a link in comments!

Lover Avenged by JR Ward - Full Review

Those of you who've followed this blog for a little while will not be surprised to know that I bought Lover Avenged early last Tuesday morning and spent every spare minute reading it. The only real surprise is that I was able to put it down Tuesday night and finish it up on Wednesday. I'll say straight up: I liked it. Flawed, but still a great story.

There's a lot going on in this book, like all of the BDB novels. A number of side plots and series arcs add to the complexity-- and the page count. A typical book so far would have the main romance plot, a couple of ongoing series arcs, a secondary romance plot building up, and a tertiary romance plot just hinted at.

The main difference with LAv is that rather than giving us ideas of what might happen in the book after next, Ward returns to the beginning and continues Wrath's character development. Which I loved.

Is It Really a Romance?
A question that has been bobbling around Ward's readership since, oh, I suppose since Lover Unbound came out: are these books really romance? Or are they urban fantasy?

Since this is my blog, you get to have my opinion (did you think you wouldn't?) : The answer is YES. Unequivicably, every book that Ward has given us has included a hero, a heroine, conflicts to their relationship, and a resolution to those conflicts leading to a Happily Ever After. Ergo, ROMANCE = .TRUE.

In pure urban fantasy, there may be romantic elements but you don't get that romantic HEA in each book. Great examples are Patricia Briggs' Mercy, who spends a couple of books deciding who she wants, Kim Harrison's Rachel, who may not ever decide at this rate, and Jenna Black's Morgan, who--well, let's just say her romantic life is interesting.

The BDB is an ensemble cast -- the best books include a hearty helping of life as a part of this close-knit family, and where that's missing, the book fails. (cf: Phury. "Fail" is a strong word, I know. Still-- my blog. Deal.)

So for my money, as long as the core romance is there, I don't mind having it share the spotlight with lots of other stuff going on, as long as it's well organized and well orchestrated. For the most part, I think LAv succeeds in this.

The Romance
In an earlier post, I Heart Book Gossip commented that there was too much other stuff in the book and not enough romance. I actually enjoyed the other stuff going on but I agree that the romance was a bit weak, and here's why: both Rehv and Ehlena are underdeveloped as characters, and I didn't really feel the chemistry between them.

As far as Ehlena goes, that's really nothing new for Ward; I feel that way about almost all of her heroines. We get that she's tough and kind and brave... and that's pretty much it. What's her favorite color? Does she read or have a hobby? Enjoy classical music or hip-hop? Does she like being a nurse or was it her only choice? Dunno. Her whole existence is defined by her father's illness and then, her feelings for Rehv. Even Cormia was better developed (though I have to say I always found the peas-and-toothpicks thing more than a little WTF).

Now Rehv... see, as a survivor of a number of years in writers' workshops, I can't shake the feeling that he is suffering from a told-us-didn't-show-us problem. We get told a lot what a bad-ass he is. We see him rough up (but not kill or permanently injure) a couple of minions. There's the issue of the DOAs that overdose on his "product."

Even with all that though, Rehv himself always seems, well, not evil. Not bad-ass. A teddy bear at heart who's forced by circumstance into heartbreaking choices. Our primary insights from his point of view are the love he has for the women in his life and the loathing that comes from his situation with the Princess. In this book, I don't ever see any glee, any high, any pleasure he might take from inflicting pain, which I gather is what makes the symphaths such a problem. There were some tantalizing hints in previous books -- his freaky scene with the Princess in Enshrined; the fight scene in the alley in... uh, Revealed I think -- but no closure in this book.

So while, yes, I think the book qualifies as a romance, it's not a *great* romance.

What Exactly Is a Symphath?
My biggest complaint is that, as mentioned before, I still don't really understand what a symphath is. What makes them so evil. So they can read emotions, so what? Vampires can read thoughts. Symphaths can manipulate emotions, so what? Vampires can wipe out memories. Seems like a very similar skillset. Why "sin-eater?" Call me a literalist, but I don't know what they mean by this... and I want to.

IIRC, it was alluded to before that symphaths feed off of strong emotions, maybe especially negative emotions. OK, but then what? does it make them stronger, or just get them off? And why would either necessarily be a bad thing? No clearer now than it was before.

When the half-breeds "go symphath," or whatever, what exactly does that mean? Their eyes go red, and...? they can't control themselves? They can't tap into their moral compass? I think we needed to see the consequences of Rehv losing control, even if it happened in the past. Why does the dopamine help? It's been losing effectiveness, what will he do now?

How about feeding? And sex? Xhex and Rhev discussed at great length what a mistake it would be to be with a "normal" when Rhev was feeding Marissa. Is it just that the barb is freaky? We know it can be painful for Rhev's female, but we don't know if it has to be. All these issues, raised as insurmountable in previous books, are hand-waved away.

All unanswered questions. At this point, I don't really expect to get answers. Which ticks me off a little, but I'm letting it go. (for now). Deep, cleansing breath.

Other Stuff
All in all, it's the Other Stuff that keeps me reading. I'm very invested in the characters and the world now, so even if the romance isn't thrilling me, and even if the world-building has plot holes the size of a Brother's.... uh, shoulders, I... wait, what was I saying? oh yeah, I'm going to keep reading. I appreciated that there was more group action in this book.

At first, the subplot around Wrath adjusting to the kingship seemed slightly random. Not that I didn't like seeing him and Beth and their romantic epilogue. But it turned out to be a great choice: it's a logical way to give readers more information about the political state of the vampire society, and I really like how it tied into Rehv's resolution. And may I say, it's about time he ditched all that pansy-ass twiggy furniture.

John Matthew and Xhex's setup continues apace. I have to admit, I'm not a huge JM fan. For 6 books now he's been this pitiable victim, sexless and pre-adolescent. I'm having trouble shifting gears into seeing him as remotely adult, much less an Alpha Hero, no matter how many times I hear about how exceptionally large he is. Lots of fans are disappointed to see his behavior in this book, but I think it's about time he stopped feeling sorry for himself and allowed himself to feel some anger and to take some initiative in directing his own life. I've always had doubts about him and Xhex too, but learning more about Xhex is helping. I'm not totally convinced though.

Yay, Tohr woke up. Finally. I do like how this was handled.

Lassiter amuses me. So far that's about it. I wonder if he'll transition into the Fallen Angels series? I've heard that the worlds overlap, so it would make sense.

Oh yeah, and Lash. Eeek. I'm afraid that Ward might be painting herself into a paranormal corner here, making him indestructible, and then somehow needing to... well, destruct him. If Butch can't vaporize the fore-lesser, I wouldn't think his trick would work on Lash either. Hope she manages to get us out of this satisfactorily.

I think that's about all I can squeeze into one post, though I could go on. And I might, LOL. But that would be a post for later.

PS
Please note -- I updated the countdown widget in the sidebar for Covet, due out 9/29. Feel free to steal the HTML if you want!

What Others Are Saying:
I Heart Book Gossip (spoilers)
Smexy Books (spoilers)
Ms. Moonlight (spoilers)
Good Books, Bad Books... (spoilers)
Happily Forever After (spoiler-free!)
Adventures in Kati-dom (mild spoilers)

(do I get a prize for NOT having spoilers?? heh)

Hot Blooded – Anthology Review

Contains novellas by Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, Emma Holly, and Angela Knight.

So, a year or three ago, I picked up an anthology called Fantasy, headlined by Feehan. I must confess I was still feeling a bit snobbish about vampire fiction and found it all kind of silly. I don’t think I finished most of the stories.

Times change, my friends, and so does reading taste. I had some leftover reluctance for Hot Blooded, due to the similarity of cover art and two of the same authors as Fantasy… plus, I have to admit, as the month draws to a close, I’m getting kind of burned out on anthologies.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Given that I have surrendered my disbelief on the vampire subject in general, I was in a much more receptive frame of mind for these stories and really enjoyed them. As a whole, each author did a good job of limiting the world-building complexities to just what was needed for the novella. Since I’m not a follower of any of these series, that was definitely a concern.

I mean, I could tell there was a lot going on in the Carpathian universe that I don’t (yet?) know about. Frankly, I think most modern authors who have ditched the whole “going to ground” element of vampire mythology have done the right thing, because I found that fairly offputting, and there were more loose ends hanging than I would accept from a full-length book, but that is sort of the nature of writing a series, I guess. All in all though, it was an engaging story that I was able to read and enjoy with zero external grounding (heh, sorry, groan) in Carpathian lore. For whatever reason, I continue to resist Feehan as an author, but I’m strongly tempted to cherry-pick through her backlist to see if I can find out what goes on with the secondary female characters in this story.

Maggie Shayne had an entry in Wild Thing, which I liked but didn’t love—it was clearly a part of an ongoing series and I had some other issues with it (review pending). What she did right with the Hot Blooded novella, Awaiting Moonrise, was to make it a completely stand-alone story. If it’s part of some other series, I can’t tell. The hero is a loner, the victim of a generations-old voodoo curse, and not part of a pack, pride, clan, patria, gaggle or seraglio of other Others, so there is less of a societal fabric that the reader needs to be oriented on. One nitpick would be the behavior of the hero when she first meets him—he’s a doctor, and behaves improperly. I don’t care if it did make her hot, it pissed me off. (Maybe it works for people with medical fetishes, I don’t know, those gross me out.) Other than that though, Shayne does the insta-heat thing pretty well, a visceral connection between the hero and heroine; there’s a little bit of a bad guy, a little bit of voodoo, and ultimately a happy ending.

Emma Holly… oh my. It’s shaping up to be a love-hate thing with me and her. After loving her historical, and hating the weird alien thing in Hot Spell, I was pleasantly surprised by The Night Owl (nothing to do with actual owls, by the way.) This was everything a romantic novella should be. It is the story of two people falling in lusty, sexy love, and very little more. It is part of Holly’s upyr series, which I snubbed those years ago, and it helps that the vampire lore is fairly standard: they drink blood, they “turn” humans (though their society has restrictions on this to prevent detection), they can’t bear sunlight and hang out in basements during daylight hours. There was some minor villainy, dealt with in a satisfactory way, but overall it’s the story of how Bastien has to take some risks to win Mariann over to the dark side, so to speak. If I have a complaint, I would say that there wasn’t much development of the relationship, per se. We get a good feel for both Mariann and Bastien (a bit later), but not so much why he falls in love with her. That’s just sort of as writ. Though I have to admit, if I (let’s assume, an unmarried version of me) were to experience that kind of mind-blowing sex, I’d probably convert to whatever, too. Just sayin’.

Angela Knight. Hmmm. What can you say about a universe that incorporates human legends through time by making them *actual* Mages, furthermore, a premise that requires the female counterparts to such legends to be fucked into their full potential by said Mages. Yes readers, Mage semen is magically delicious. If some guy chats you up in a bar and promises you immortality in exchange for a weekend in Cabo, he might be an Angela Knight fan. Despite the absolutely preposterous premise, I liked the characters quite a bit; the sex scenes were creative, athletic, funny, and still very very hott, although I did sort of feel like I should have a bowm-chicka-bowm-bowm soundtrack playing in the background.

Meljean Brook – Two Novellas – Review

Wild Thing and Hot Spell both contain novellas in Brook’s Guardian universe. I had to double-check the page count on both of them, because in each case there was absolutely a whole story packed into barely 100 pages. Vivid characters, compelling plot, and just enough of her amazing world to tide over the fans between releases.

Compared to a full length book, novellas usually lack something; I mean, there’s a reason for those other two or three hundred pages – character development, intricate plotting— something has to give. Not these. Sure, the plots don’t have quite as many twists and turns, but they’ll still engage you and they don’t have that wrapped-up-pat, oh-crap-I’m-out-of-page-count feel of a lot of novellas. The other signature move of Brook’s that is left out of the novellas is the way each full-length book adds new branches of the mythology in her world-building—which is perfectly appropriate for a short.

I honestly can’t speak to whether these shorts stand alone if you aren’t already reading the series. But does that matter? Are there really paranormal romance fans out there who haven’t fallen in love with the Guardians? If there are, I can only imagine that either of these two novellas would prompt such an under-rock dweller to run out and acquire by hook, crook, or library card the rest of the series. I will say, though, that being late to the party with Falling For Anthony did leave me slightly lost in parts of Colin’s story, Demon Moon; and Demon Bound contains references to events in Paradise. So fans should consider the novellas required reading, not extra credit.

Although Falling For Anthony (Hot Spell) contains references to how Colin was changed, it is the story of his sister and the Guardian she falls for, and explains Colin's connection to the Ramsdell family. I was actually kind of perplexed by the weird sex scene in the beginning of the story. I didn’t understand Emily’s motivations and I’m not sure I ever really did get a grip on them. The first couple chapters read a little bit like a full length novel that had been stripped down hard. I confess I didn’t start to love the story until after Anthony’s transformation.

Now, Paradise… Brook totally has her novella groove on here. Lucas, a self-sacrificing carpenter who bleeds to save humanity – no wait, that’s not quite right… but yes, Lucas is a bit of a Christ figure in this story. Fortunately, he gets a much happier ending with an angel for a consort-- which seems appropriate somehow; that is, if it’s not too weird and blasphemous to find a Christ figure extremely sexy and heroic. I really enjoyed the build-up of tension between these two characters: Lucas’ reluctance to take help from anyone; Selah’s internal struggle with her resentment of the Guardians who ascended, leaving Earth vulnerable and the remaining Guardians with a monumental task – there’s a lot going on here but it never feels rushed or confused. Once again, Brook plays with the notion of free will on multiple levels, adding hope to her dark world of demons and nosferatu, and substance to a genre that is too often dismissed as fluff.

One last note – Brook has a third novella in the collection “First Blood,” released this past August, which I somehow missed. Following my own advice, I’m going to need to pick this up one way or another.

Coming up next: Brook has a short in the upcoming Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, due out in April of 2009, and the next Guardian book is tentatively titled Demon Forged, featuring Elena, the foul-tempered Guardian with a talent for metal-working. Hopefully we’ll see than in 2009 as well, but I’m not seeing a scheduled release date as yet. Also, if you’re like me and reluctant to shell out $14 for your reading fix, there is more good news: Wild Thing is being re-released in mass-market format next month. Between the double-whammy of Paradise and Marjorie Liu's Hunter Kiss, this was perhaps my favorite anthology of the whole bunch.

Hot Spell – Anthology Review

Hot Spell contains stories from Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook. Ever since I realized that I was missing some very critical information about Brook’s vampire Colin, I’ve been watching for this one. It’s a couple of years old now, though, so I had to order it from Amazon.

The first entry is from Emma Holly. Remember when I told you that I thought the historical world needed her more than the paranormal world does? Hmmm, I think I was right. This particular story just isn’t up my alley, although the right basics are there. You have a repressed noblewoman, a sexually super-charged “peasant” guy; subtle power exchanges in both directions, lush sensual writing, a decent mini-plot wrapping up with a love-will-conquer-all interracial romance… I dunno. I think the hero just didn’t do it for me. The paranormal, other-world element gives Holly some room to play, and I can see that the layer of creativity kind of juices up the story… but for me, it just didn’t work. I think this is a case where it’s just preference on my part.

Secondly, is my second Breed short story from Lora Leigh. Question for the hard-core fans: do the men all have “eatable lips”? Or is there some kind of streak of cannibalism in the mates they choose? I ask because so far the Leigh heroes are 4 for 4 with eatable lips. Personally I think that’s kind of weird. The first time, I thought, ooo, I kinda like that...By the fourth book I was waiting for it. Which, you know, isn’t right.

Other than that though, I actually liked this little story quite a bit more than the other one, and so far it might be my favorite Lora Leigh. (I’ve read two of the SEALs books and two Breed short stories). The Tarek character was definitely more likeable than Saban but I’m still having a little trouble with the mates-for-life premise.

Blood Kiss from Shiloh Walker cracked me up with the Romeo and Juliet references. Not a subtle lady, Ms Walker, with her Roman Montgomery and Julianna Capiet. The duo bob and weave through the politics of the two powerful but feuding families, and since it's a vampire spin, there's that sort of dying-but-not-really-dying bit, too. This is a romance, so there is a happy ending, and I was a little disappointed that no one had occasion to swear a pox on both their houses, but I suppose it would be boring to follow the formula too closely. Final note: very intrigued by the character of Mikhail. Adding Shiloh Walker to my 2009 authors if for no other reason than I need to read that story.

Review for “Falling for Anthony” coming up separately….

This little collection definitely rates high on the creativity scale, so if you’re looking for something a little different, this could fit the bill. Which for me, also makes it a little hit-or-miss by individual stories. I suspect this is a big YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

Have you reviewed Hot Spell on your blog? Feel free to post a link in comments or hit up Mr. Linky in the Antholopalooza intro post.

Story of Son - Review

If you've been watching my sidebar then you know: today is a JR Ward release day! Not a full novel, sadly, but-- and here's the real reason that December is Anthology month for me -- a novella in the anthology Dead After Dark "headlined" by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Also contributing are Susan Squires and Dianna Love. I don't know who they are. I haven't read their bits yet. I headed straight for The Story of Son, because hello? obsessed.

I have trouble getting into a lot of short stories, but this one pulled me right in. It definitely reads like a longer book. The hero in this story is everything a BDB fan could want -- tortured, honorable, and with the equipment and stamina of a horse. What's not to like? Claire's character was awfully close to Jane, the heroine from Lover Unbound, which I've noticed about a lot of the Jessica Bird books as well.

The story is set up such that none of the characters know anything about the world of the vampires as we know it, which puts us fans in the interesting position of perhaps knowing more about what's going on than the characters do. It also has the advantage of not spoilering *anything* about the BDB series. I think it's a more fun, better read if you have read the other books, but because of this plot device, it's not really necessary. In fact, I'd be really interested to hear from readers of this story who haven't read the books. If there are any left.

Like a lot of short stories & novellas, this one is pretty thin on plot -- I think it's more of a love story, a vignette of two characters, who they are apart and together, and the chemistry they generate. Ward has a handful of "Slice of Life" scenes on her website -- this piece is a bit reminiscent of those.

I really adore the character of Michael and could easily see him playing a part in future BDB books. Ward certainly doesn't lack for characters to turn to and he probably doesn't need his own full-length book, but dang, I'd love to see him in the Brotherhood. He would fit right in.

_____
ps, do I need to tell you that the hero is a vampire? He is. She isn't. Go read it.

One Bite With a Stranger, by Christine Warren-- Review

I’ve been a Christine Warren fan for quite some time now. I browsed past She’s No Faery Princess dozens of times, intrigued despite my non-urban-fantasy-reading-self (at the time). I think it was the title that finally did me in, along with my growing love affair with vampire novels (see also: JR Ward).

One Bite with a Stranger is a recent mass market release. According to Warren’s website: This book is an expanded version of the title originally released by Ellora’s Cave as Fantasy Fix. It contains new content and can be considered the First Novel of the Others.

I haven’t read the original e-book version, so I can’t comment on how much different it is or how much it may have changed. I can assure you that Warren’s roots in erotica show more in this book than her previous print releases, and those were not exactly lukewarm, IYWIMAITYD. Take note: the erotic scenes feature some loving BDSM kink – if that’s a big turnoff for you, you might want to take a pass on this one. If it is your thing, though… or if it’s not NOT your thing... um. It’s pretty good.* It’s also constitutes a fair bit of the page count, so, fair warning.

Dmitri is a really lovely alpha hero in this story. He has this nifty little gift of mind-reading, and when he happens to tap into Reggie’s fantasy life, he finds that it lines up with his own, and things just smoke along from there. The notion of a lover being able to read your mind certainly has some disadvantages, not the least of which would likely be a sense of violation. It also becomes an interesting way to treat the notion of consent. What if you actually do know for a fact she means YES when she's saying NO? Warren handles this nicely, IMO. Dmitri doesn't ever ignore what Reggie says when it's in conflict with what he knows about her inner desires; rather, he calls her on it and insists on her cooperation in something of an ultimate submission. The rest of the plot is adequate but unremarkable.

My only nitpick with the story is the motivating premise that kicks off the whole thing. Reggie has this group of girlfriends who came up with “the Fantasy Fix” (title of the e-book version). Each of them apparently shared a sexual fantasy or two and amazingly, no matter how outlandish (not so very), someone in the circle had a single hunky friend who was able to deliver said fantasy. Reggie, the most prudish of the group, was exempt from the fix-up because she was the only one in a long term relationship. At the beginning of the book, she has dumped the loser LTR and thus amid much protest becomes the subject of the next Fix.

Here’s where my eyes start rolling. I just don’t see blind dates and fix-ups working out that well when they specifically involve fantasy sex. I mean, I’ve BEEN on fix-ups. Add in that the fixer-upper has shared one of YOUR fantasies with the guy and ugh. AWKWARD. Or maybe "awkward" isn't the word-- maybe the more accurate term would be "LESS FUN THAN REPEATEDLY STABBING YOURSELF IN THE EYE WITH A SHRIMP FORK".

Then there’s Reggie’s reluctance. Her girlfriends all but force her into this. She wants no part of it, not even deep down secretly yadda yadda. Yet she still lets them dress her up in slutwear, take her to a bar, and goes along with the plan to go home with a guy of their choice and have kinky sex with him. I don’t buy it.

Really? This is where your suspension of disbelief fails?

Um, yeah. Who're you?

You can call me the voice of doubt. Or reason. Whichever. This is one of the vampire books, right?

Yeah, vampires and some were-guys. So?

Where the girl falls in love with the vampire? The centuries-old, mind-reading, blood-sucking dude with the pointy teeth?

Yes already. Your point?

So you believe in the mind-reading sexually dominant immortal vampire and his were-wolf buddies, but you don’t believe the main character would go for a kinky fix-up?

Right—that and the single available straight men in Manhattan. And one of them was a were-cat, not wolf. YOU CAN SHUT UP NOW.

Okay, okay, untwist already. I'm just saying.

*glare* Consider it said.

On a serious note, the scenes between the hero and heroine were far and away the star of the show. The chemistry in and out of bed between Dmitri and Reggie really sparkles, and carries the book. If you're not into the erotic side of it, it's probably not going to rate tops for you (errr, no pun intended) but I give it good marks just for the main characters. I thought the scenes among the girlfriends were more than a little flat by comparison and probably didn't help with the believability of their roles. I actually didn't like Ava much at all-- we'll just have to wait and see what kind of true colors she reveals in her own book, coming next April.


The reading order for Warren's Novels of the Others can be found here.
__________________
*By which I mean smoking hot.

Dear Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,

I get a hit almost weekly on the following google search:

"When is the next JR Ward book due out?"

So, just for you, the answer is:

October 7, 2008 is the due date for The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider's Guide.

It's expected to include a short story about the birth of Zsadist and Bella's child; an "interview" between JR Ward and Tohr and Wellsie dated from a few week's before the end of Lover Awakened; and a sneak peek at...

Lover Avenged, Rehvenge's story, to be released in May of 2009.

In between, Ward is contributing a novella to the anthology Dead After Dark, along with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Squires, and Dianna Love.

If you need a vampire fix in the meantime, you can 1) search this blog on the tag "vampires;" 2)Check out everyone's favorite vampire blog or 3) check any of the book lover links in my sidebar -- pretty sure there are vamps to be found in all of those.

Hope that helps!

.

Lara Adrian – Midnight Breed – Series Review

So, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I’m guessing JR Ward is really, really flattered by this series. There are so many similarities that I almost believe it’s completely coincidental – setting out to do it on purpose would be just too obvious, and, well, tacky.

I’ve had a few conversations with fans and several of them have insisted that any similarities are merely superficial, and the books are entirely different. This truly mystifies me. There are so many commonalities, I couldn’t help but start making a mental checklist. So here we go:

Characters:

The Breed	The BDB	Description
Lucan	Wrath	Purest of the breed, leader of the warriors
Camlan	Darius	Killed early in first book. Damn nice guy.
Dante	Rhage	The pretty one with intimacy issues
Tegan	Zsadist	“Broken, not damaged” – even the other warriors are a little scared of him and don’t fully trust him.
Rio	Tohrment	Loses his mate tragically. Goes off to die alone in a cave. (are you kidding me? both of them? in a cave? No, yes, and yes.)
Gideon	Vishous	Tech-head IT genius
Chase*	Butch	Civilian cop caught up in the warrior world.
Andreas		TBD...
Niko		TBD...
	Phury*	(no parallel)
		*is tragically and misguidedly in love with his brother’s mate.

Seriously, there’s a boy-band joke in here somewhere. I just can’t quite get it to gel.

Then there are points that revolve around the world-building, the “mission” of the warriors, the structure of their race’s society, and, since these are romances, certain aspects to the emotional/physiological connections in the mating process:

Plot points:

The Breed	The BDB
Live together in a militaristic compound	Live together in a militaristic compound
Chartered with protecting civilian vampires	Chartered with protecting civilian vampires
Viewed with suspicion and some contempt by civilian aristocracy. Feeling is mutual.	Viewed with suspicion and some contempt by civilian aristocracy. Feeling is mutual.
Keeping the race a secret from humans is a paramount concern. Largely accomplished by “scrubbing” human minds (erasing their memories)	Keeping the race a secret from humans is a paramount concern. Largely accomplished by “scrubbing” human minds (erasing their memories)
Vampires may have a variety of paranormal talents/skills. The purer the vampire pedigree, the stronger the skill is likely to be. (granted, this is a bigger deal in Adrian’s books, more of a sidenote in the BDB)	Vampires may have a variety of paranormal talents/skills. The purer the vampire pedigree, the stronger the skill is likely to be.
Typically older generation vampires, but not necessarily	Deliberately bred as a subspecies of the larger vampire population
Origin of the species is pseudo-scientific/biological	Origin of the species is pseudo-religious/spiritual
Fights hopelessly blood-addicted vampire Rogues.	Fights undead, soulless lesser (former humans)
Requires human blood for sustenance. There are no female vampires.	Requires blood of female vampires for sustenance. Human blood can work, but not well and the vampire’s health will eventually suffer.
Can blood-bond to and procreate with certain human women who carry a particular genetic compatibility and are conveniently marked with a distinctive birthmark. Once made, the bond is permanent and the males are fiercely territorial.	If lucky, “bonds” to a mate. Generally represents a life-long, unbreakable tie. Bonded males are fiercely territorial. Can mate without bonding.
Cannot turn humans into vampires but can create Minions who are enthralled to their maker. Not common among “civilized” vampire society.	Can turn humans in very rare circumstances if the human has any vampire DNA.
Series arc develops along warfare/battle strategy	Series arc develops along warfare/battle strategy

O’Donovan has talked about the BDB’s slang before and how much it bugs her – I actually like it and find it more believable than Adrian’s. I suspect that O’Donovan would make boggley eyes at me and completely disagree. But regardless of what you think of Ward’s vocabulary choice, the rhythm and pacing of her dialog is compelling, and to my ear, Adrian’s is more labored and less believable.

Like Ward’s, Adrian’s heroes are tortured souls, trying to do good in spite of their own certainty that they themselves are NOT “good.” Personally, I think Ward does a better job of tapping into her alpha’s hidden tenderness, making me ache for his pain. It’s not that Adrian’s are terrible, but they are SO similar to Ward’s, I can’t help but make direct comparisons and I think Ward just gets it really really right.

It’s not all bad news. Adrian is a competent writer and puts together a good story. You can't fake that, no matter what your inspiration is. I like her heroines better than Ward’s; they’re more fully developed. I think that if you can’t get enough of JR Ward, Adrian is a reasonable second choice to turn to.

If you'd like to read Adrian's take on the similarities between the series, she does talk about it here: Interview with Lara Adrian. The authors share an agent, and Ward provided a cover quote for the series, so I'm guessing there's no bad blood** over the subject.

_________
**sorry, I couldn't resist.

A rave, not a review

If Gail Collins is talking about it, I am interested.

So what kind of vortex does it create when Gail Collins — she of the pithy political colums, she of the incisive wit — is writing about vampire novels and the Twilight series in particular? It's too much good stuff, that's what.

Favorite bit: "'Twilight' and its successor novels are about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. There seems to be a lot of this going on lately. If you want to become a best-selling novelist, I would defnitely advise that you start by making your hero a little bit undead."

Immortals After Dark, by Kresley Cole – Series Review

Sad to say, I’m still kind of a snob about vampire romances. Cuz when they’re bad? They’re just way more extremely bad than any other kind of bad romance. I think so, anyway. “Mwah-ha-hah, I vant to suck your bloooooooood.” Uh huh.

You’d think that after getting hooked on JR Ward, Lynn Viehl, Christine Warren, and Meljean Brook I’d’ve learned. But no. And this cover art didn’t help:





It took quite a bit of nudging for me to give Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series a try. But, finally I did, and..... I LOVED IT. So, to the nudgers out there (you know who you are): thanks. Seriously, THANK YOU.

Fairy Tale + Wacky Humor + HOTT (omg, SO hott) Sex = Kresley Cole.

It also sort of sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’m frankly not sure how Ms. Cole managed to make everything work, but she does.

The Immortals After Dark tap a number mythologies for inspiration. The dainty, fragile-looking Valkyries are a particularly unique addition to the crowded paranormal romance shelves, if not especially true to Norse mythology. Fiercer than any other of the Lore kind, they are a sorority of foul-mouthed immortal warriors who enjoy movie nights, X-Box marathons, mani-pedis, and beheading vampires. Their only weakness? They are easily distracted by shiny objects, especially high-quality diamonds. Seriously.

Cole’s heroes so far are vampires, werewolves, and demons – of the three, the vamps actually rank last among my favorites – they’re still good, mind you, but the werewolves and Cadeon the Rage Demon fairly set the pages on fire. And how can you not love a romance where the big bad werewolf is chasing a girl in a red hooded cloak? (Fortunately, there was no mention of grandma or a basket of goodies; that would’ve been taking things a bit to far.)

I mentioned in a previous post that Cole’s paranormal world isn’t high up there on my infamous credibility index. Suspension of disbelief is something of a conscious decision. But the Lore world is such a rockin’ good time, why wouldn’t you want to? These books are pure escapism. Cole goes for the wink and the nod rather than the mysterious, dark, gritty "realism" that’s currently in vogue for paranormal romance, and succeeds brilliantly at sheer entertainment.

Each individual book is a fairly straightforward quest sort of story. In each, there is a prize sought by one or both of the protagonists, and the other poses either the key to the prize, or a barrier to it. Or both. Plotting isn’t a weakness of Cole’s, but it’s not the main attraction, either. Clever, unique characters are a big part of it, but for me, the development of the attraction between the hero and heroine is the real gem here. Setting up a couple whose backgrounds are completely incompatible is certainly not new territory in romance. The journey up over, around, or through these incompatibilities to a believable happily ever after is what either makes or breaks a romance author—whatever the subgenre—and in my not-so-humble opinion, Cole does a stellar job.

I like to keep this blog fairly family friendly, so on the topic of teh hott, let me just say, READ CADE & HOLLY’S STORY. And if you want really steamy, check out Cole’s novella in the anthology “Playing Easy to Get,” which pretty much falls off the edge of romance and into erotica (or “romantica.” Whatever that is.)

Reading a whole series at once is always fun. In this case, I thought Cole’s characters definitely got better and better, especially the female ones. Lachlain, the first hero, is one of my faves, but I didn’t love his halfling mate. By the last book, Dark Desires After Dusk, I felt like the women characters were living up to the men. There’s a scene in DDAD (and by the way, WHO comes up with these titles? ackk) where Holly is struck by lightning and receives her full complement of heretofore-suppressed Valkyrie powers… and it’s STUNNING. A fantastic scene. And I will say this: each of Cole’s heroines are extremely unique. No stereotypes, no archetypes, no recycled characters with different hair color.

I don’t always like teasers, but I have to say that I adored the scene between Cade and his brother Rydstrom at the end of the book. Cade and his brother, the heir to a demon throne, have a rocky history, and Cade’s parting line both cracked me up and left me curious as hell: "Fuckall... does this mean I'm no longer the bad brother??"

So check out the series. As for me, I’m going to look into the MacCarrick brothers, and come February, I’ll be adding Kiss of a Demon King to my Borders’ haul.

.

On the Suspension of Disbelief

Let’s face it, the notion of immortal undead bloodsuckers living among us has some flaws.

First of all, if they are immortal, and we are not…. Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

Secondly, if they are immortal, and they turn humans into immortal vampires… Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

Thirdly, if they have superhuman strength, can fly or teleport, etc – basically, if they’re nearly inescapable deadly predators—plus immortal, plus turning…. Shouldn’t they eventually outnumber us?

It’s your basic lion-and-gazelle sort of question.

And beyond just the population balance question, don’t you think if they’d been around for THOUSANDS of years, they’d’ve made it beyond fairy-tale status? I mean, if they were real? Wouldn’t they eventually be sort of… noticeable?

I have to admit, Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood universe is one of the most immersive, plausible fantasy worlds I’ve come across in a really long time. And I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes that true. How can some authors take the same premise and turn it into a world that seems so real, that resonates so hard in my head that I have difficulty believing that it only exist between the pages of a book? While others might provide a good read, but when I close the cover, my brain is right back to grocery lists and emails for work and the stuff I need to pick up for my daughter’s science project and the film I need to drop off at Target to get my mother-in-law off my back… And then there’s the other end of the spectrum that just induce eye-rolling. So, as I'm prone to do, I started thinking about this way too much. Which led me to…

To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: I am such a dork.

See spreadsheet.

<<Vampire Credibility Index.xls >>

To: Nicola
From: O’Donovan
Subject: Re: I am such a dork.

I fucking adore your brain.

We should add Laurell K. Hamilton (whose total would be 0) and there are a couple of others. If one wanted to add a "quality of writing" category, I think the numbers would change dramatically.

To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: Re: Re: I am such a dork.


<g>

Thought you might like that.

Totally agree on the quality of writing, but I thought it might be too subjective.

I’m also trying to figure out how to capture the mind control/thrall aspect; that seems to be a common element in most of the vamp books. Not binary, though.

What other questions belong on the grid?


To: Nicola
From: O’Donovan
Subject: Re: Re: Re: I am such a dork.

Maybe whether vampires are portrayed as dangerous predators, disinterested observers, or benevolent protectors? We should add Kelley Armstong, too. I can't abide Feehan or Kenyon, but I can fill in the Hamilton gaps.


To: O’Donovan
From: Nicola
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: I am such a dork.


Check. The other thing I was thinking was the origin of the species, but that will come down the eye of the beholder. I just finished the first Lara Adrian and apparently the entire vamp population came from 8 aliens who were responsible for several of the earth's mysterious population wipes -- Egypt, Maya, etc. I liked the book, but totally don’t buy that.

Apparently aliens trip my "Oh please, you must be kidding" trigger while incandescent demigods do not.

------------<<end of email string >> ---------------

OK, we resolved the origin of the species question, and here is the sublimely dorky result:




Is that not a thing of beauty? The normalized line accounts for the fact that some authors had been read by both of us and some had not (I have taken masters' level courses in statistics, thank you very much).

The funny thing is, these scores are not at ALL about how much I (or we, if I may speak for O'Donovan) enjoyed the books. But it does a fair job of ranking how believable the universe is.

Strangely enough, sometimes vagueness is your friend in world building. I have no idea how Susan Sizemore's vampire race came into being. And it doesn't seem to matter. Lara Adrian, on the other hand, writes a far more nuanced world, with better characters and more complex plot, but when she starts talking about crash-landing aliens, it's a total bucket of cold water. For me, anyway.

And I adored the Kresley Cole series (totally recommend, review on its way) BUT I don't believe in her Lore universe for a second--it's just fun. Ward on the other hand... catches me looking for Caldwell, NY on a map and speculating, speculating, speculating...

_______________
Final note: I'd be happy to justify any and all of the rankings if you have any disputes, but rest assured that EACH AND EVERY ONE represents an explicit thought process and far more brain cells than could possibly be justified.

Review: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

Prologue

Nicola: I don’t believe I’ve ever been quite this obsessed with an author or series. Well, unless maybe if you count Nancy Drew in fourth grade. But even then, I wasn’t treating a new book like a rock concert, waiting in line for tickets at 3 am on opening day.

Well, OK, I didn’t get in line at 3 am. And I even managed enough strength of character not to go to work late so as to nab the book at 9 am when the store opened. I waited until 6 pm – NINE HOURS LATER – to read it after work. (I did however completely neglect my children, my husband and my house, and I had an asiago pretzel for dinner in the bookstore café.)

JR Ward writes long books. I promised myself that I would pace myself, that I wouldn’t blaze through it, that I would savor it and pick up on all the juicy little tidbits that are strewn through all the books like easter eggs in a video game.

I finished it at 1:30 am the same night I started it.

Sigh. I am weak.

O’Donovan: There is nothing quite as much fun as anticipating a book with a friend, then devouring it while getting your friend’s commentary (and, in Nicola’s case, I got her urgings to hurry the hell up so we could talk about it already). Actual e-mails we exchanged on Tuesday, when I bought it:

From: O’Donovan
To: Nicola
Subject: Re: Annoying co-blogger again

Just cracked Lover Enshrined and I’m already going, “oh, maaaan” over the glossary. I wish it didn’t drive me so crazy. Ok, on to the good stuff.

From: O’Donovan
To: Nicola
Subject: Oh, no

Ok, I just got to the definition of “phearsom” and I actually let out an anguished cry.

From: Nicola
To: O’Donovan
Subject: Re: Oh, no

Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee

Stop reading the glossary, OK? You’re just torturing yourself


Actual post and review

O’Donovan: “Alpha hero, my ass.”

If I had to give you a four-word review of Lover Enshrined, that’s what you’d get. If I got the more-traditional-in-Internet-terms six words, I think we’d be looking at:

“Phury? Meh. Cormia? OK. What’s next?”

Nicola and I are united in our overwhelming … excuse me, wait. I can’t even use “overwhelming” in an ironic way to describe the romance portion of this book. I was under- everything, except –excited. I was definitely overexcited about the next JR Ward book, but I’m putting my excitement on ice until we get over this awkward stage. Growing pains, you know.

Nicola: I have to say, Phury has always been my least favorite Brother--which is a little like saying that he’s my least favorite 5 carat diamond, but anyway. I was willing to give this book the chance to change my mind… but it didn’t.

O’Donovan: Ward has a funny little tic that I love: She dedicates her book to the hero, and writes a personal note from author to character. In the note for Lover Enshrined, she tells Phury he’s a gentleman.

As those of use who love (or have loved) bad boys know, that’s officially the kiss of death.

On paper, of course, Phury looks like an interesting proposition. He’s a drug addict (and that’s worked in romance novels before; see Eloisa James’ The Taming of the Duke). He’s a twin (ditto). He’s painfully, pathetically, tragically in love with his brother’s faithful and loving wife. (I know I’ve seen this in a romance novel before, but I can’t think where.) He’s just been given the key to a heavenly harem, with the catch that his chief concubine is an extremely reluctant political tool. He’s a fricking vampire warrior.

So where did it all break down?

I think the simple fact is, Phury is tough to like. He’s a Boy Scout, and not in a good way. He’s like a Boy Scout who really needs therapy and also some better written sex scenes, who needs to embrace his dark side through something besides passive-aggressive agonizing, corpse mutilation and drug abuse. Preferably — this is a romance novel, after all — something sexier than all of those, but still a little twisted, a little dark, a little opposite of the Boy Scout.

Instead, we get very little resolution and a whole lot of “and then he got over it and they moved on to the next thing” solutions, which are something I particularly despise in romance novels.

And Cormia. I had hopes. In fact, she had some cool, half-developed stuff going for her (like building elaborate architectural models out of peas and toothpicks, as if she were some kind of weird POW whose only outlet is training rats in the Brotherhood’s mansion). But Cormia, like Phury, never amounts to much in this book, although it looks for a couple of seconds like she and the young John Matthew might develop a bit of a thing. Alas, nope.

Nicola: If Cormia were a secondary character, her development would be stellar. I like the arc. But I felt like I just didn’t see enough of it, or enough of her and Phury dealing with each other.

O’Donovan: Yeah, that’s it, precisely. Also, I have to say that I am a sucker for the crazy, weird marking scenes in all of the other books, and that never really happened here, which was another thing that made this book feel like it fell outside of rest of the series. But the biggest sin was that the brotherhood barely makes its presence felt in this book.

Nicola: Agreed! I really, really missed seeing the banter and the relationships between the Brothers. This is hands-down my favorite thing about the series (though the erotic tension is right up there on the list), and it was very noticeably absent in Phury’s book. The rest of the Brothers were far distant bit players in this story which was mightily disappointing to me.

However… it’s no spoiler to tell you that Phury’s story is one of overcoming addiction. I can claim no expertise at all in this matter, but common wisdom is that this is a solo journey – a process that has to come from within, that no one can help you with. I don’t usually get this deep in my reviews, but I could absolutely see that the isolation that the reader feels in this book could be an artistic choice to echo the isolation of addiction and recovery. (Full disclosure: I didn’t get that all by myself. It evolved in a discussion on Ward’s fan message board). But this is another thing that IMO causes some suspension-of-disbelief issues around his involvement with Cormia. Isn’t there some kind of 12-step rule against that?

As for my take on Phury’s character, on the surface he’s this noble, self-sacrificing martyr… and eww. Who likes a martyr? Something that became really clear to me during a pivotal scene between Phury and his twin is that all the worrying, all the caretaking that we’ve seen Phury doing (mostly in Z’s book)… is not about what Zsadist needs, it’s about what Phury needs. And it’s not really working for either of them. The celibacy thing never made any sense to me at all.

O’D: despite their incredibly annoying dialogue (about which I could write a full post, but let me sum up by saying that only tween girls think its cool to have an inside language that uses the –y or –ie suffix on words like “next,” “out,” “fresh” and so on. “Give me a freshie”? Give me a gun.)

Nicola: Believe it or not, I have actually heard a grown-up, hipster-ish male person say, “I’m outtie.” Which pretty much makes me think of belly-buttons, but I’m willing to live with the assumption that what sounds weird to me is actually current slang.

O’Donovan: I will grant that there may be grown-up, hipster-ish males who would say that, but so would Cher in Clueless, and I find it unsexy. But my feelings about slang aside, there is good news. Growing pains happen when you’re going through a transition, and this book is very, very obviously a transitional book.

Ms. Ward seemed to think we were running out of potential lead characters (although, off the top of my head, I count at least three heroes (Rehv, John Matthew, Manny) and four heroines (the Chosen Layla, Vishous’s sister, Jane’s long-lost sister whom I believe we will be seeing again, and Zsadist-and-Bella’s Nalla) that were waiting in the wings before this book even began … and that’s if you didn’t expect Tohr to eventually come back and (one hopes?) get over Wellsie’s death and end up in some relationship.

Nicola: I don’t see Jane’s sister coming into play, personally, though I could be wrong. Also, neener neener neener, I know who the Rehv ends up with, and it’s none of the above. If you want to know, you can hit Ward’s official website message boards, or email me.

Word is that Qhinn will have his own book, and Blay and Lassiter are possibilities. Depending on what the voices in JR Ward’s head tell her to do.

O’Donovan: Brace yourselves, Bridgets: by the end of Lover Enshrined, we have about 50 random Chosen roaming about, looking to reproduce.

Nicola: What’s a bridget?

O'D: It’s the punchline of this joke about my people: What’s Irish foreplay?

Nicola: Uh huh. So. Between Phury’s ascension to the Primale role and some interesting and very specific attacks by the lessers’ new secret weapon, the social structure of the Chosen, the Brothers, the glymera, and the civilians-- not to mention the symphaths, Moors (what exactly are they??) and their various half-breed permutations—is crumbling. Which, given what we’ve seen of the glymera and the Chosen, makes perfect sense to me, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

O’D: Me, too. And I would be unfair if I pretend there weren’t a few things I loved.

I loved the interplay and development of John Matthew, Qhinn and Blay into a little brotherhood of their own, with some fascinating quirks. I loved finding out more (and, frankly, some really dark and interesting and gross stuff) about the symphaths(Nicola: OMG! SO FREAKY!) and Rehv, in particular. Xhex has a really intriguing sexual presence in this book.

Even the stuff that’s going on with the necessary-but-occasionally-yawntastic lesser is pretty interesting in this book, although that might have been in comparison to the love story, and it wasn’t as great as the stuff in Lover Revealed or Lover Unbound.

Nicola: I always tend to skim over the lessers’ point of view – this was the first book where a lesser character pulled me in at all.

My list of “what I loved” is essential the same as O’Donovan’s – the only thing that I didn’t really like was the romance element. Not that it wasn’t there, but I don’t think it was especially well-done.

But let’s get to the point.

Should you read this book?

ODonovan: (Or, if you’re me, should JR Ward have written it?)

I think this book is a lot like puberty. You have to get through it. It’s awkward and embarrassing and none of the romance works right because it, too, is awkward and embarrassing. But you hang in there for the stuff on the other side, which promises to be complicated and sophisticated and sexy as all hell and — this part’s for sure — full of fascinating men.

Nicola: As for me, I am still a die-hard Ward fan and will likely do the same irresponsible all-nighter with the Compendium this fall and Lover Avenged next May. This book really whetted my appetite for the future of the Black Dagger Brotherhood universe… but Phury is still my least favorite Brother.

I Y Andrea…

Do you have an Andrea? You should! Every book lover should.

Andrea works at my local Borders. On the days when she happens to be working and I happen to be browsing, it is a scary and wonderful thing – wonderful for my reading experience, scary for my budget.

Andrea loves romance, historical romance, romantic fantasy, romantic suspense, and most of the cross-over genres. Happily, her tastes align really well with mine and she reads everything. If I ask her who’s new and good, she’ll rattle off 3 or 4 names that I haven’t heard of. If I tell her I’m tired of historicals and I want something more contemporary, or paranormal, or fantasy, she’ll have something for me. About a year ago, I confessed that Nora Roberts’ Circle Trilogy had finally dragged me kicking and screaming into the realm of vampire romances, she talked me into reading JR Ward—I did not go willingly!-- and you all know how that turned out.

Over the years, she has introduced me to--among many others-- Loretta Chase, Stephanie Laurens, Christine Warren, Susan Anderson, Lois McMaster Bujold, CL Wilson, and of course, JR Ward. She has never, ever steered me wrong. So if she tells me I should read something, I read it.

Most recently, she suggested Grimspace by Ann Aguirre and Clockwork Heart, by Dru Pagliassotti. The first is more space-opera-ish than I usually read, but fun nevertheless. It reminded me a lot of Briggs’ Mercy Thompson books in terms of the pacing and the way the romance develops a bit over several books—well, I hope; the 2nd book is due out soon, with available excerpts and word is she has a contract for books 3 and 4.

Clockwork Heart is a bit more steam-punky, though it isn’t a typical speculative/ alternative earth history. It takes place on its own world, where the technology takes a couple of different twists from ours, primarily around a lack of semi-conductor technology and the use of a lighter-than-air metal called ondinium. Combined with a strict caste-based society, there’s an intriguing whodunit mystery along with a lovely romance. Both characters turn the assumptions of their castes upside down, and have a bit of a struggle to be able to truly *see* each other. The book has some interesting things to say about power structures and bigotry and the masks we wear with each other.

Andrea also recommended Joanna Bourne but they were stocked out. It’s next on my list though, because if Andrea says I should read it, (say it with me) I’m gonna read it!