Archive for vampire book series
The Vampire Diaries Books 3 & 4: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith
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Title: The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion
Author: L. J. Smith
Release Date: December 26, 2007
Pages: 528
Genre: Young Adult Vampire
The third and fourth books in the Vampire Diaries series, The Fury and Dark Reunion, are combined into one novel and it concludes the series that brought a young high school girl, Elena, into a complicated triangle with two vampire brothers who both want her as their own but for very different reasons – one loves her completely and one just wants to own her.
In The Fury, Elena has become the same as the brothers – a vampire. As she adjusts to her new life as one of the “undead”, an unknown danger appears to be bearing down upon Fells Church which threatens them all. As a newly turned vampire, will Elena be able to help out not only her friends but also save the whole town? Or will she sacrifice her immortal life to protect the ones she loves?
Dark Reunion brings the group back together to conclude the story line as they face the biggest evil they have ever come up against. And it’s an evil so immense that even the Salvatore brothers are out of their depth. Without Elena to bind them all together, can the group learn to trust each other enough to overcome their fears and stand against the oppressive evil that’s overshadowing Fells Church.
These last two installments of the Vampire Diaries series bring to a closure L. J. Smith’s story of a vivacious, young high school girl who is in the middle of an unbelievable position, yet the author makes it quite believable. Elena is so engaging and her love for Stefan and her friends keeps you pulling for her through both stories. The conflict with Damon just adds to the spice and keeps the love story from becoming clingy and boring. The Vampire Diaries books are well written and never boring – which is a testament to L. J. Smith’s skill. Add The Fury and Dark Reunion to your vampire library.
Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2) by Jeaniene Frost
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Title: Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2)
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Release Date: July 27, 2010
Pages: 384
Genre: Urban Vampire
An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness…and now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.
Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.
At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears – this fearless, beautiful….human who braved death to rescue him. Though her burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.
But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction. Check out Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost.
Best Fantasy Book: Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein
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This enthralling urban fantasy book is part of the Anna Strong Vampire series; book 4 to be exact. In this installment our heroine, Anna Strong, a kick butt bounty hunter, reluctantly agrees to help the girlfriend of her business partner, Dave. Anna’s not a fan of Dave’s pretentious and selfish girlfriend Gloria; she thinks he deserves a better partner. So when Gloria approaches Anna about investigating a wealthy businessman threatening to blackmail her, Anna surprises herself by agreeing. The fact that Gloria was having an affair with this guy (something Anna could potentially use against her) may play a role in her decision.
By the way. Anna is a vampire.
If you’ve read previous books in this series you know that Anna was turned after a violent attack by a rogue vampire. She suffered cruel emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her sire but was eventually able to escape his control. By killing him.
While taking a break from investigating Gloria’s case she’s confronted by a female werewolf who wants to claim her sire’s estate. According to vampire law, when a vampire is killed his/her “children” (the people he/she turned) are entitled to that vampire’s holdings. Although Anna makes it clear she wants no part of her “inheritance” the werewolf insists on challenging her for the estate. Through a series of surprising events Anna soon realizes that:
a) it’s hard to kill something that’s already dead;
b) her vampire sire was much stronger than anyone knew.
This causes problems for Anna because she’s still trying to mainstream and live as a human. Although her vampire mentor makes it clear that she has to put her former life behind her she continues to maintain contact with her immediate family and friends. As we’ve seen in the earlier books, Anna hasn’t totally accepted her new vampire lifestyle.
It becomes increasingly difficult for her to exist in both worlds. While investigating Gloria’s case she learns that her instincts about Gloria are well founded. She not only has to convince Dave of Gloria’s underhandedness (without turning him against her and ruining their personal and business relationships), but she also has to be careful not to display any of her enhanced powers during said investigation. Additionally, although she enjoys spending time with her parents, she’s running out of excuses for not eating her mother’s cooking, something which Anna knows hurts her mother’s feelings.
Legacy is an evenly paced, well balanced urban fantasy vampire book with just the right mixture of action, adventure, and drama. Jeanne C. Stein has created a strong, well developed character in Anna and as a result, she’s a popular heroine in the urban fantasy vampire book genre.
Overall I found the book to be thoroughly engaging and entertaining. If you love a good action adventure with a supernatural backdrop you’ll love Legacy, Book 4 in the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles.
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon-Dark Hunter Book 12
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a really cool video sneak preview of the new Sherrilyn Kenyon book called “Acheron”, which is Book 12 in the Dark Hunter series. It goes on sale August 5th.
Check it out:
Here’s what you need to know about the Hunter series from Sherrilyn Kenyon:
- Acheron (“Ash”) is sexy as hell. He’s a drop dead sexy bad boy. And I do mean bad.
- This quote accurately describes Ash: “he had been built to please, and trained to pleasure. Everything about him from the sleek muscles that rippled to the deep, erotic timber in his voice seduced anyone who came into contact with him.“
- The Dark Hunter books represent steamy paranormal romance at its best.
- The Dark Hunter series is an incredibly popular vampire fantasy series that has sold millions of dollars. The “Hunters” have fans worldwide.
- Acheron is available now at Amazon.
The Watcher by Jeanne C. Stein
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Anna Strong is a female vampire bounty hunter. She’s a newly made vampire that obtained her powers after being attacked by a master vamp. As we saw in Blood Drive (Book 2) she’s still trying to walk the fine line between retaining her humanity and satisfying the blood lust that vampires are often subjected to.
In this installment of the series (Book 3) Anna mistakenly shows the violent side of herself to two humans while attempting to rescue someone. You see vampires have two personas or “faces”: the one that they show humans and the one that comes out when they become violent and out of control. Anna showed her vampire face to the humans which makes her a prime target for the Revengers, the human group that hunts down and kills vampires. As a result, the chief of police, a fellow vampire, orders her to go underground for her own safety.
There are quite a few plotlines present in this book. Stein successfully blends mystery and suspense into each of them:
- Max, Anna’s DEA boyfriend, has suddenly gone missing. This may be linked to the fact that:
- The Mexican drug lord that Max was working to put away has recently escaped apprehension from federal authorities. He realizes Max is responsible for his near capture is hell bent on finding Max in order to exact a little revenge.
- A mysterious FBI agent is also seeking Max for questioning and thinks Anna knows where Max is hiding.
- Anna’s shape shifter Mexican friend Culebra appears to be in trouble. This worries Anna greatly because he’s someone that can take care of himself.
- A crazy witch plans to summon a demon and unleash it’s powers on humankind. She also thinks the event will go down near Culebra’s bar in Mexico.
- Someone is trying to kill Anna and possibly her bounty hunter partner as well.
So when the chief of police tells Anna to disappear she chooses to hide out in Mexico and do a little investigating at the same time. That’s what I like about Anna: she’s a smart heroine. Yes, she’s incredibly stubborn and not without her flaws, but she’s head and shoulders above those ridiculous heroines that walk blindly into a dark alley with a broken heel and a cell phone that doesn’t work and literally wait for the bad guy to jump out at them.
Kudos go to Jeanne Stein for successfully juggling so many plotlines in the book. Lots of writers wouldn’t have a clue about pulling all of these storylines together into one 291 page piece of work. Stein does it seamlessly and maintains a proper balance of action and suspense to the very end. Since I read the book over the course of a few weeks I had to backtrack a couple of times in order to get back up to speed but I sometimes have to do that when the storylines are less varied. This book falls firmly into the action-adventure urban fantasy subgenre and is another winner for Stein.
Night Rising by Chris Marie Green: Babylon Vampire Series Book 1
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When Dawn Madison‘s father disappears she’s initially not too concerned. After all, her father is a bit of a free spirit and has a habit of getting on his Harley and going wherever it takes him.
So when she goes looking for him she’s pretty surprised to discover that her father has been working for a private investigation firm. He’s not one to hold down a job for very long. She’s even more shocked to learn that the firm specializes in investigating paranormal events. Her father’s co-workers are also concerned about her father’s disappearance and think it’s linked to another case they’re working on.
Dawn decides to join the hunt for her father and in doing so, becomes a member of the paranormal investigation firm. This begins her introduction to the world of supernatural creatures that she never knew existed.
The Story:
Dawn is a stuntwoman who’s worked in Hollywood films. As such she’s fairly strong, physically fit, and more than able to defend herself in a fight. She joins the firm thinking “how hard can this be?” only to discover that she has to face challenges most people only see in horror films.
The PI firm is run by a man referred to as “The Voice.” Why? Because no one has ever seen him. Dawn’s first encounter with him consisted of her entering a room and talking to a large blank television screen. Every meeting with him is like this; she’s simply talking to a mysterious disembodied voice. Think, Charlie’s Angels but with a much sexier voice.
The firm is currently trying to locate a dead male child star. The kid in question died at the age of twelve from a drug overdose. Although that’s startling by itself, that’s not the reason they took the case. They’re investigating his death because although the kid died several years ago his image appeared in some very recent film footage.
While investigating this case Dawn gets her first introduction to vampires. This encounter represents one of the most interesting aspects of the book: the mythology that Chris Marie Green creates about the vampires in the book.
It’s entirely different from any other urban vampire fantasy book I’ve read. The vampires have both an “above ground” persona and an underground life. As a matter of fact, they live in a place called “The Underground.” At times I found the vampire characters, their society, their interactions and the mystery surrounding The Voice to be more interesting than Dawn’s character.
As such, here are a few things that were somewhat annoying:
- The storyline drags at times and the dialogue can be a bit boring.
- The main character’s need for sexual stimulation was a little overdone. I mean honestly, this woman can’t see a good looking man without wanting to jump his bones? Chris Marie Green made Dawn into someone that almost shuts down physically if she doesn’t get a regular (i.e., daily) “fix.” It was akin to reading about a drug addict suffering through withdrawal pains. Although this book in no way falls into the vampire romance fantasy genre, a few scenes cross the line into fantasy erotica. Like most contemporary fantasy books these scenes do nothing to move the story along. Chris Marie Green is such a good writer that I’m thinking she’ll reveal more about why Dawn behaves this way.
- Too much emphasis is placed on Dawn’s issues with her mother, who died one month after Dawn was born. It definitely adds emotional depth to her character but I felt it was reinforced too often throughout the story.
Having said that I have to say that the positive FAR outweighs the negative in this book. There were times when I had a hard time putting the book down. As such Night Rising is a recommended buy. I’ll definitely purchase Midnight Reign, the next book in the Vampire Babylon fantasy series. I’m really curious about The Voice and who/what it really is. And I definitely want to know more about The Underground. As a vampire fantasy series I think there’s a lot of potential here. There’s room for Chris Marie Green to take some of the unanswered mysteries in the book and develop them into something even more exciting and full of intrigue. I’m looking forward to the second book.
Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance
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In this, the second book in the series, Karen Chance continues the story of Cassandra “Cassie” Palmer, the reluctant clairvoyant who seems to have a penchant for getting mixed up in vampire politics. This time, she takes a couple of war mages and a few ghosts along for the ride. Does she get in over her head? Of course!
The Story
Cassie is still refusing to complete the ritual that will make her the new Pythia, the top magical power in the supernatural world. It’s been a struggle for her to hold out for so long but if you’ve read this book you know that Cassie has good reasons for delaying this transformation:
- once she becomes Pythia she’s certain her rival, Myra, will step up her attempts on her life;
- the council of mages will attempt to control her actions (she’s pretty stubborn);
- she’ll be eternally bound to Mircea, a powerful vampire.
She’s most concerned about the last issue. You see, Mircea hired someone to place a geis, or love spell, on Cassie. The spell is extremely powerful and prevents Cassie from “gettin’ busy” with anyone except Mircea. If Cassie shows any signs of being attracted to another man the spell kicks in a causes Cassie (and the object of her desire) excruciating pain.
Additionally, the spell causes Cassie and Mircea to crave one another (like, let’s take our clothes off right now) if they’re in close proximity to one another.
All of this is important because if Cassie has sex with Mircea she’ll be bound to him and the spell will make it almost impossible to be away from him for any period of time. Also, in order to complete the Pythia ritual she has to, guess what – have sex with someone. Yes, Cassie is a virgin. And the spell won’t let her have sex with anyone but Mircea. Quite the dilemna, huh?
The main storyline revolves around Cassie’s attempts to locate Tony, the vampire that raised her since childhood. She wants to find Tony because she discovered that he’s responsible for ordering someone to kill her parents; she wants to exact a little revenge. Turns out Tony’s on the run from the vampire senate and has partnered with Myra, Cassie’s nemesis. Additionally, they’ve hooked up with Rasputin (yes, the real Rasputin from history), an evil and deadly vampire that’s dead set on taking over the vampire senate. So, not only does Cassie need to find Tony, but she also needs to take care of Myra.
All of this is complicated by the fact that Myra has learned how to travel back in time and alter history. Cassie’s biggest fear of all is that Myra will travel back in time and kill Cassie’s childhood protector, which means that she’ll alter the course of events and cause Cassie’s death. Or even worse, Myra could travel back in time and kill Cassie’s parents before Cassie was conceived. Bottom line: she’s got to find and stop Myra.
Pritkin, the renegade mage that was against Cassie in Karen Chance’s first book Touch the Dark, is back and he and Cassie team up to find Myra and Tony. Karen Chance throws in a little sexual tension between them which is both interesting and a little funny.
Karen Chance has once again written a great fantasy story that puts a magnifying glass on the world of vampires, mages, and fae. Although Cassie’s personality quirks are fairly consistent, the beauty of the story lies in the character development of Pritkin and his relationship with Cassie. Throughout the story Cassie develops a better appreciation for Pritkin’s knowledge of magic and magical creatures.
This book gets put in the contemporary fantasy/action-adventure category. And although it contains a good bit of vampire lore and vampire fantasy but it’s nicely balanced. I wouldn’t classify this as a vampire romance story, but the scenes between Cassie and Mircea are fairly hot.
Karen Chance does a great job in describing the world of magic, magic users, and faerie politics. The trip through the Dark Fey’s woods is as vivid as Dorothy’s trip through the Dark Forest in the Wizard of Oz. The culmination of forces that converge during the climax makes everything leading up to that point well worth the journey. This book gets a “buy” recommendation.
Note: the next book in the series is titled Embrace the Night and has a release date of April 1, 2008.
