Vampire

Book review: Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #12) by Laurell K. Hamilton

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LON

Anita Blake:

In the latest New York Times bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, Anita’s life is more complicated than ever, as she is caught between her obligations to the living and the undead. A vampire serial killer who preys on strippers is on the loose. Called in to consult on the case, Anita fears her judgment may be clouded by a conflict of interest. For she is, after all, the consort of Jean-Claude, the ever-intoxicating Master Vampire of the City. Surrounded by suspicion, overwhelmed by her attempts to control the primal lusts that continue to wrack her, Anita does something unprecedented: she calls for help.

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Book Review: Bloodstorm (Heart of a Vampire #1) by Amber Kallyn

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When duty forces a shaman to stop a vampire from her revenge, love doesn’t just burn… it bites. For two hundred years, Niki DeVeraux has been tracking the monster who murdered her family and made her a vampire. She finally catches up to him only to face more than she bargained for in a too-sexy sheriff who makes her remember she’s still a woman. With duties as Keeper of the peace and Sheriff, Shane Spencer must protect humanity and stop the friction between the local Arcaine races before it turns into an all out blood war. When wolves start turning up dead, the tension between the races grows and suspicion falls on Niki. Shane knows she’s not to blame, and it has nothing to do with the primal urges she stirs within him. Working together, they must stop the hostilities from going over the edge. Trouble is, the desires raging between them might prove more dangerous than the surrounding threats.

At long last here is my final review of books I read in 2016. I know it seems like I took forever and I did a bit, but here it is. Long live 2017 from now on.

This book was alright, I would not jump up and down and call this my next big vampire series to read but I also didn’t hate it. It is a fast and easy read at only about 190 pages. What kept me from truly being able to fully love this book instead of just feeling lukewarm about it was that everything just felt a little bit on the surface. If the book had been longer, we may have been able to dig into it more, get more connected to the characters and their stories.

Due to the fact that so much of it was just right on the surface there were quite a few plot holes big enough to drive a mack truck through. I hate saying that, but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. The format is there, the interesting characters and other items that could have really drawn the reader in are all there but they are only lightly touched on. Case in point Nikki is hunting down the Vampire who turned her into a vampire. His name is Thomas, when he came, he killed Nikki’s entire family, but allowed her to not only live but turned her. Why? What was his motivation in doing that? Why not kill her as well, so that he was not leaving someone behind who could seek vengeance upon him? Let alone turning her into a creature like him with long life so that she could basically hold on to that grudge. What was his thinking behind that? It wasn’t like she stayed around as his companion or anything.

Shane also came across as a character that was a little creepy. He was more than happy to have a sexual relationship with someone who looked much younger? I had some of the same issues with Twilight, but at least Edward was dating in his own, age pool per-say. He didn’t look like an adult going out with a teenager. With all of that said, it was not the worst book I have read and even if it was superficial I did enjoy it. I would not be picking on these exact points if I didn’t. I just wanted to enjoy it much more.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Blur (Night Roamers #1) by Kristen Middleton

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There ARE creatures lurking in the dead of night… Seventeen year old Nikki and her twin brother, Nathan, move to the small town of Shore Lake to start over after their mother is brutally attacked. When a missing teenager washes up on shore during their first night at the cabin and there are whispers of vampires in Shore Lake, Nikki begins to realize that there are things roaming in the darkness that are far more sinister than what they left behind in the big city.

This book contains some graphic language, violence, and mild sexual situations.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Another book where I cannot help but giggle that they had to put a little warning disclaimer in the description of the book about adult content. Maybe this is a new trend that I am not aware of? Just last time I checked when you were choosing an Erotica or romance. Now with that said again (sorry about the broken record), time to sink into the review.

This is not the worst book I have ever read, but again like many of the last books I read in 2016 this book just really fell short of what I hoped it would be. This book was so rushed it really felt like perhaps the author was frantic just to get words typed out and shoved into a book. Yes short books are always going to be a little rushed, but with a skilled hand, you can still manage to make them feel less so (I think anyways) and you can deepen the plot and characters.

Nikki is just a one dimensional cut out of hormones that I simply could not connect with. At times I even got flashes of Anita Blake once she started being a bit hyper sexual too (I hope I can bring myself to continue the series after Cerulean Sins), and well that just boded badly. The monsters and other characters of the book all fell pretty flat for me. I rolled my eyes so much when I was reading this one that I was sure they were going to get stuck up there.

The book gets a 2 rating instead of anything lower because there were a few little points that I did enjoy. The idea could be better if it was fleshed out better, if it had not been so rushed awkward and cheesy. Nathan was the character for me that had the most promise, he was a bit better fleshed out for me.

So the short of it is, if you want a fast read that won’t bore you to tears, but is not fully fleshed out you might like this one more then I did. I also find myself once again pleading with Indie/Self published authors, please for the love of all the Gods please stop rushing things. Take the time to make the story longer, to give the characters more life and the plot a bit of time to simmer and truly come together. Instead of making a long series of really short stories just make one or two longer ones. Please. You might take a little bit longer to get it done, but if you spend that extra time on it there is a much bigger chance that you will get loyal readers! That makes the extra time worth it, really it does. Oh, and for the love of Gaia please at least give the story a brief proofread! Please! I beg this on behalf of all readers out there who really do try and support smaller authors. Totally random and not really something that matters this one hurt a little bit extra because the Author is from/in my hometown.

Book Review: A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) by Bella Forrest

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On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? …or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks

I wish I could say this was the first book of the new year right on New years day, alas it isn’t. I am going to post the rest of my reviews from 2016 before diving in and hopefully keeping up on my reviews as I read the books this year!

Ah a new vampire story to sink my teeth into (pun fully intended) and I have to say, although this one has been on my TBR for a long time once I did pull it up I was very excited about it. Sadly. I should not have gotten my hopes up about it. I should have been wary when I heard some of the buzz around it (when I first got it as a freebie), and those who liked it were calling it better then Twilight. Honestly, it is not that hard to be better than Twilight and I say that as someone who actually LIKES Twilight.

While at first look the idea of this book looks very different and unique, once you actually start reading you will end up seeing most of the typical tropes. Maybe if you like that sort of thing you will enjoy it more than I did. Alas, as I went through this fairly short read I just sighed a little. Honestly, I got bored enough at one point I nearly decided to mark it down as a DNF, and I try very hard never to do that.

Now, with all of those complaints stated it is not the worst book I have ever read. There is some potential in the characters and if they were a little more fleshed out the book might actually hold my interest more. It is a YA book so some of those tropes should be expected. My biggest issue with the story is that within only a second of seeing our heroine, Derek the old vampire who just woke up falls in love. Yeah, you read that right, and yes, I know YA has a lot of nearly instant love stories, but this truly was instantaneous and frankly, I thought a vampire who is older than 400 years (he has been asleep for 400) would have more sense than that. The girl I would expect it from but him? Come on now. Of course, his instant love means he won’t feed from her and all of that.

Maybe it gets better, there are a lot more books in the series. Alas, I don’t think I will be reading them, it is very short and the POV switches without warning which just kinda makes for a headache. So I am going to end this review with a GIF I took off another review from good reads. I tried, I really did I wanted to like this book I wanted another Vampire series I could love. Alas, back to the drawing board I will go with that.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #11) (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #11) by Laurell K. Hamilton

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A book review of:

Cerulean Sins, the eleventh entry in the hugely-popular Anita Blake series, finds everyone’s favorite vampire hunter keeping house and kicking butt.

Anita Blake is trying to get her life back to “normal” after a break-up with her werewolf lover. She has settled into a pattern of domesticity, which means that the new man in her life, the leopard shapeshifter Micah, has no problem sharing her with Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City. Things are as peaceful as they ever get for someone who raises the dead, when Jean-Claude receives an unexpected and unwelcome visitor: Musette, the very beautiful, very twisted representative of the European Council of Vampires. Anita soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous game of vampire power politics.

To add to her troubles, she is asked to consult on a series of brutal killings, which seem to be the work of something un-human. The investigation leads her to Cerulean Sins, a vampire-run establishment that deals in erotic videos, videos that cater to very specific tastes. Anita knows one creature of the night who has such interests — Jean-Claude’s visitor. But if Anita brings Musette down, the repercussions could cost her everything she holds dear.

Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.

Anita Blake returns to find hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.

Back into the world of Anita Blake and I am sadly starting to ask myself why I am still reading. It is not that the book is completely bad, it isn’t, but there is starting to be a pretty clear pattern emerging and I am left wanting to smack Anita when I am reading and when I sit down to write my book review.

We once again have an ubber strong vampire visiting from out of town, who wants to control Anita and surprise, surprise tests her knowing full well how she is going to react anyways. Anita of course pisses off super bad vampire and breaks rules, funny super bad vampire broke rules anyways. Anita sleeps with some more people, and then has a boo hoo fit over it. Also, she still won’t let the multiple boyfriends be with anyone else. Hypocrite much?

So the basic theme of this book is vampire violence and a lot of sex. I am not a prude or really one who minds violence in books, but at this point it is becoming repetitive and Anita needs to grow up. So why three stars instead of less? Asher is what saved this book for me from getting totally bombed and being a DNF, I have loved Asher since he first showed up in the series and getting to finally know a little bit more about him and his story made me feel better. I still wanted to slap Anita for not allowing Jean Claude to be with Asher since she has a billion boy toys, but Asher really has my heart at this point. So if I am reading further into the series after this book review, it will be because of him and not so much Anita. Unless we get our kicking ass and taking names girl back.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Narcissus in Chains (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #10) by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Hamilton’s vampire-hunting Anita Blake faces a plethora of foes in her tenth outing. Just returned to St. Louis after six months away, Anita is still no closer to choosing between her lovers–Jean-Claude, a vampire, and Richard, a werewolf. But she has to rely on both for help after two of the wereleopards that she has been watching are abducted at a seedy club called Narcissus in Chains. Anita and her boyfriends rescue the wereleopards from the sinister people holding them, but Anita is wounded in the fight and put at risk of becoming a wereleopard herself. Richard angrily captures the wereleopard he believes is responsible and threatens to execute him. Anita must now rescue that wereleopard from Richard and the werewolves he leads, even as she mourns the apparent end of her relationship with him. Then she realizes that those who kidnapped the first two wereleopards are targeting other lycanthropes. Maybe she will be next. With plenty of steamy sex and graphic violence, this is engaging reading for vampire cultists.

Alright, I love this series. I have loved that Anita is a kick ass and ask question later kind of girl. I love that she doesn’t give into things easily and she is her own woman. With that said this has so far been my least favorite book in the series. It is not the sex, I have not issues with sex scenes in books. It is how much is going on, how much Anita seems to have no control and some of the reasons for the sex and how the scenes are.

Honestly there does not seem to be a whole lot of plot to this book, there are some bad guys and they are attacking as usual but the bulk of the book is spent fighting the Ardour. Having sex with people or close to sex with people, my least favorite is Micha. Anita was for all purposes raped. She said no. No many times and never actually said yes and they had sex anyways. I mean seriously? COME ON. Just seems very not Anita like to me. Richard needs to just be kicked in the face I am tired of his complaining. Who stands out for me as someone who grew in the right direction in this book? Nathaniel. He seems to be starting to get some back bone and be a bit of a man. Good for him.

Bottom line is I don’t hate the book but it was not my favorite at all either.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Prince Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles #11) by Anne Rice

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The novel opens with the vampire world in crisis…vampires have been proliferating out of control; burnings have commenced all over the world, huge massacres similar to those carried out by Akasha in The Queen of the Damned… Old vampires, roused from slumber in the earth are doing the bidding of a Voice commanding that they indiscriminately burn vampire-mavericks in cities from Paris and Mumbai to Hong Kong, Kyoto, and San Francisco. As the novel moves from present-day New York and the West Coast to ancient Egypt, fourth century Carthage, 14th-century Rome, the Venice of the Renaissance, the worlds and beings of all the Vampire Chronicles—Louis de Pointe du Lac; the eternally young Armand, whose face is that of a Boticelli angel; Mekare and Maharet, Pandora and Flavius; David Talbot, vampire and ultimate fixer from the secret Talamasca; and Marius, the true Child of the Millennia; along with all the other new seductive, supernatural creatures—come together in this large, luxuriant, fiercely ambitious novel to ultimately rise up and seek out who—or what—the Voice is, and to discover the secret of what it desires and why…

And, at the book’s center, the seemingly absent, curiously missing hero-wanderer, the dazzling, dangerous rebel-outlaw—the great hope of the Undead, the dazzling Prince Lestat

I was excited when I heard that Prince Lestat was going to be published and yet I was also on the fence. The Vampire chronicles were my first big introduction into the world of vampires they got me involved with them and made me enjoy the genre. It was because of them and the bar that was set so high I did not read other vampire novels for a while. The reason I was on the fence however is because the last few chronicle books fell short for me and I feel as if there was some betrayal that happened within them. That aside I have read everything else by Anne Rice so I had to read Prince Lestat.

I liked it. The opening was solid and enjoyable. It was fun checking in with Lestat again and Louis and Armand. I truly enjoyed revisiting characters that I have loved for so many years. However, things started to fall apart. The story being told from so many points of view was just to much. There were to many new people introduced, voices that we did not need to hear and for my personal preference did not want to. I wanted to stay with those I already knew and get more from them.

The book jumps around rapidly from time period to time period from point of view to point of view and really at the end of the day it ended up being to much. I did not hate the book by any means but as much as I wanted to love it I couldn’t and if I am truly honest it was in the end a bit of a struggle to finish. Not the best start to a new year of reading but it could have been worse.

My Gemstone Rating:

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