Until I happened to notice this book while perusing the meager selection at Wal-Mart, of all places, I had never heard of, let alone read anything by this author. While I was pleasantly surprised to find an author whose style and skill is captivating I can’t say that I was exactly enamored of the book. Allow me to elaborate.

The book’s heroine, Grania O’Malley, is a wildlife veterinarian and scientist who specializes in owls and has just gotten a position at the Texas Hill County Raptor Center. On the surface she seems like your average wildlife vet. In actual, Grania has been having vivid dreams that feel like memories to her. In these dreams she is always a woman named Blanche, who she looks nothing like in reality, and she has a husband named Rodrigo, a knight in the Spanish court. When she comes to Texas to work at the Raptor Center she meets wealthy businessmen Don Rafael Perez, a flesh and blood mirror image of her Rodrigo. The attraction between the two is immediate, strong, and confusing for them all at the same time.

It wouldn’t be much of a story however if that was the whole of it. An old enemy of Rafael’s, now known by the name of Beau, is through bidding his time and is now ready to exact his revenge and because of her connection to Rafael, Grania becomes the perfect target. Now, Whiteside creates an interesting world for her vampires to move in and painstakingly sets up the mythology of the characters and their world in this first novel in her series. Despite the time spent on developing the characters and their relationship, as well as the mythology and hierarchy of the vampire structure, the novel itself never seemed to drag and kept moving along at a steady pace. I would not go so far as to say that the concept behind the vampire hierarchy was unique or different though, in fact, you’ll find similar setups in several other books. Whiteside does manage to put an interesting spin on the norm and her Texan vampires are definately different from the average literary vampire in a very good way.

The conclusion of the story itself was a bit of a let down however. The entire story built up to the confrontation between Don Rafael and Beau and yet the actual “battle” between them was over in a flash it seemed. Although, Grania’s contribution to the fight was exciting.

Whiteside provides a handy glossary at the back of her book that lists all of the terms and phrases used by her characters (Spanish, French, and Arabic) and a definition of their meaning. In the case of words that were used to define a rank or special meaning beyond just what the word means, Whiteside even provided a quick but detailed explanation. Of course, it’s been my experiance that some readers do not like it when the author switches languages back and forth in the story (code switching). If you do not understand Spanish, French, or Arabic you may find yourself flipping to the glossary for a quick explanation and then turning back. I didn’t find this to be a problem, but then I do know Spanish and French. Not to mention, it is the norm, in my area, to flip back and forth between English and Spanish in a conversation.

In short, Bond of Blood made for an engaging read. I had a hard time connecting with Grania’s character in some parts, and especially later in the book however and as a result, the believability of her situation and reactions lessoned as the story continued. One such occasion is when Grania happens upon Rafael feeding off of a woman. While she notes the woman enjoys it, she herself seems to be under the impression the woman is unaware of the attack, as she calls it, and is frightened by the sight of Rafael’s razor-sharp fangs biting into the woman’s neck. Grania is prepared to even dash out and save the woman, and yet she becomes highly aroused at the sight and reaches orgasm while watching what she believes to be is an “attack”? I had a very hard time getting into this character’s head and reconciling her thoughts and actions, they just did not match up in my opinion. Other than that, this book made for a very good read and could be the start to a promising series.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

Upon completion of this novel I was sorely tempted to dangle my copy above some candles and watch it burst into flame. I suspect that would have been more entertaining than reading it proved to be. The pyromaniac temptation, no doubt, was inspired by the candle pictured on the cover. I’m really not sure what the other item on the cover is supposed to be however. A cat paw maybe? The ambiguity of the second item is reminiscent to how I felt when I thought about what the author’s purpose in writing this book might have been.

Cat Toy revolves around four characters, primarily Yai (John) a human space pilot who crashed on a planet inhabited by Cat People, of which the population seems to be made up primarily of men. Tryl is the cat man who found John, named him Yai, and took him as his slave.

A human male, a pilot, unsure of his place in the world and unsure of what he wants in life. What happens when one lone man crashes on a planet inhabited by men very different?

He learns that cats are playful, aggressive creatures who value their toys a great deal.

Initially, the story’s synopsis sounds promising. Science fiction meets romance, right? While there is space travel, planets inhabited by strange creatures, and some interesting technology, by way of the shuttles and the translating devices, that’s about it for the science fiction aspect of it. There is no real character exploration, no real discernible plot, and a complete lack of depth. The story itself is roughly eighty-plus pages in length; the author could have really used another eighty pages to flesh out her characters and plot.

By the end of the book I was just absolutely stunned at the complete lack of believability and realism in this book. Yes, it’s a work of fiction, however, as a reader I should feel as though the characters themselves are real. I should feel as though I had come to know them and their actions and thoughts should have been realistic to me. Instead I’m torn between laughing or cringing at the absurdity of the characters in this book.

Yai is a human who has crashed upon this strange planet inhabited by cat people. He spends days holed up in his shuttle with no memory of how he got there let alone who he is and what to do now. Eventually he is found by a poacher and later rescued by Tyrl, the leader of the cat people. Tyrl claims Yai as his slave, and Yai makes no protest to this and succumbs happily and readily enough.

Wait, back that up. Let’s read over the book’s summary, does Yai sound like the same pilot described on the cover? No, not really. On top of this, when Yai is captured by the poacher and Tryl intervenes he is granted a moment to escape, which he takes. Tryl catches him and pins him to the ground. After a fruitless struggle to break free from Tryl’s hold, Yai bares his throat and chooses to “die like a man”. Then through the course of the book Yai follows Tryl around like a little lost dog and succumbs to Tryl’s every wish.

Maybe there is something in the air on this planet that robs people of their will and sense of freedom? That has to be it, because I have a really hard time believing that a person, who would choose to “die like a man” and who has essentially been a man who has enjoyed his freedom, would readily submit to becoming another’s slave and sex toy at the drop of a hat. I just don’t buy it. After a period of time where he got to know more about his “Master” and had time for self-discovery? Okay, that sounds more likely. But in less than a day? No, I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that. I do however have bridge to sell you. On top of that, within pages Yai becomes a completely submissive being prone to tearing up at the slightest provocation.

Think I’m exaggerating? My second case in point: Karl, a fellow pilot and a friend of John (Yai) who is captured while trying to rescue his friend, who by the way, does not want to be rescued. Karl is captured by Mank, one of Tryl’s subordinates who has been searching for a new slave. After his capture and being carted off to his captor’s room, Karl proceeds to conduct himself as any person would expect. Instead of answering his captor’s questions with answers, he merely repeats his name and rank. When Mank drags his canines over Karl’s jugular, as though he might rip out his throat, Karl understandably has a bowel movement. After Mank rips Karl’s clothes off and douses him with a pitcher of water, that seemingly appears out of thin air, Karl is most understandably scared and embarrassed. But in the next second he is straddling his captor’s lap, begging for his touches, and telling Mank his life story. Yes, I can really see that happening.

On top of the unbelievability of the characters there is the fact that, aside from the immediate (and I mean very immediate) vicinity where the characters are, no detail is given about the planet and the scene around them. The complete lack of detail to the world around the characters robs the author of the chance to give more depth to her characters by way of allowing the readers to draw inferences about them and step into the world. The lack of detail also adds to the unbelievability of the story as nothing seems to connect.

After reading this book, the only things I could tell you about this world is that it has a ruling class of cat people that enslave other cat people and off worlders who they view as inferior to them. They have some technology and technical know how which seems at odds with the barbaric society and culture. They don’t have beds, but sleep on piles of furs, and the shower room has a waterfall and a drain pool to do your business in. So detailed isn’t it?

In short, this author is completely incapable of writing a world that the reader can step into, understand, and believe in. Her characters are flighty and whimsical at best due to the fact that the reader can see the author’s metaphorical hands forcing characters to dance to her tune, whether it fits with their individual personalities or not, and the world that these characters exist in gets so little attention that, for all intents and purposes, it’s not there for the reader. The only character the author seemed capable of making realistic and managed to keep “in character” was Tryl, and I highly suspect that it’s because he’s two dimensional at best.

I’m all for more books out there where the main couple, or one of the main couples are of the same sex. But it seems as though the tendency for authors is to try too hard and tip the scale to one extreme or another. The tendency is to either write the novel geared to the intellectual with too much emphasis placed on metaphors and the abstract, or to turn the novel into the perfect script for a porno flick. Let’s try for some realism instead okay?

Joana’s rating: