After finishing Frost’s Halfway to the Grave, my only regret is that I did not get a chance to read it sooner. Frost introduces us to a new heroine in the urban fantasy genre by the name of Catherine Kathleen Crawford, a lanky redhead with a rather sad and tragic past, a vicious temper, and damn good aim with throwing knives. What sets Cat apart from other heroines in this genre is her refusal to wallow in her past, her desire to move forward, and her ability to find the humor in any situation without loosing focus. And did I mention that killer aim?

Cat has spent her life knowing she was different, and being the product of a rape was really just the tip of the iceberg. You see, Cat’s not entirely human, she’s half-vampire in fact, and she spends the evenings trolling for the fiends that turned her mother’s world upside down. Then one night she’s captured by a vampire bounty hunter named Bones whose convinced that she’s being hired by the very vampire he’s spent eleven years hunting – Hennesy.

Cat’s convinced that all vampires are scum of the earth, and really, since she’s only got her mother’s experience and her own from hunting them to go by you can’t really blame her. Bones, however, throws Cat’s perceptions out the window and forces her to reevaluate her findings. Is there such a thing as a good vampire? Cat’s not entirely sure anymore. Together this duo set out to take down a ring of vampires who are nabbing human girls off the streets and selling them at a pretty penny. It becomes apparent soon enough though that there is more going on than the dirty dealings of vampires, there’s law and politics involved as well and that’s never a good thing.

While Frost’s world doesn’t really contribute anything to the genre in terms of originality when it comes to vampires, ghouls, and ghosts, the story itself is still a fun and enjoyable read that will have readers hooked from start to finish.

The entire book was rife with humor, be it dry witty banter, sarcastic repartee, biting asides, or just good old slapstick humor. Even the most tensest of scenes was lightened with a bit of humor. Now, sometimes that isn’t always a good thing, however Frost does an excellent job of injecting lighthearted humor without completely killing the mood or inducing the gag reflex. Take, for example, this scene: Cat and Bones are staking out a club looking for Hennesy and his crew when Cat’s looser of an ex-boyfriend wanders up to her and attempts to “catch up”. Bones persuades the guy that talking to Cat is a bad idea however. On the way out Cat and Bones have this exchange:

[…] Apparently we still had some issues to discuss over good killing versus bad. “Oh I have feelings for him, all right. I’d like to put him in the ground myself, believe me. Still, it would be wrong. Promise me.”
“Fine, I promise I won’t kill him.”
He said it too easily, my eyes narrowed.
“Promise me right here and now that you will also never cripple, maim, dismember, blind, torture, bleed, or otherwise inflict any injury on Danny Milton. Or otherwise stand by while someone else does as you watch.”
“Blimey, that’s not fair!”
Guess it was good I hadn’t just accepted his first agreement. (p253)

The ending was a bit of a surprise for me, I must confess. I very much expected this novel to follow the same annoying trend that a good majority of paranormal romances and urban fantasy books have been adhering to as of late. I’m sure you know the one I’m talking about; the good guys kick butt and take numbers, the cops arrive and it looks like it’s curtains for our heroes. Then, in one or two chapters, everything is nicely summarized and we’re told that the police have nothing to tie our heroes to the crime. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that after the nasty critters die their bodies disintegrate, thus no bodies no crime. Maybe instead some memories were messed with. Whatever the case, the heroes get no more than a “we know you did something, don’t know what, but we’re watching you” and then we go to more pressing matters – relationships! Sometimes we even get served a “good job, we’ll turn a blind eye for you” from the boys in blue.

It’s a nasty trend that tends to leave me dissatisfied, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It may be a work of fiction, but it’s always nice to see some cold-hard reality in there. Needless to say Frost delivers on this and she does so with much gusto. Cat has been tied to a homicide, kidnapping, with a strange corpse thrown in by the human authorities. Cat uses this to draw the police to the vampire hideout as a sort of “cavalry” and in the process digs herself deeper in their eyes. Add to that she’s seen killing multiple people, attacked two officers of the law, evaded arrest, and murdered a politician. Frost doesn’t cheat her readers by pulling a deus ex machina and contriving a cheap ploy to magically make everything sunshine and roses for Cat. Instead Cat faces a very real and very daunting reality, in the law’s eyes she’s nothing but a murderer.

The story does not end there, nor does it end with Bones coming to the rescue and whisking Cat and her mother to safety. Instead, while hospitalized, Cat is approached by a government agent and offered a chance. They know what her “victims” really are, they know why she did what she did, and they know what she is. She can sign up with them, train their men to hunt down the vile creatures known as vampires, and become their best weapon in this war on the undead and unholy. Or she can die for her “crimes” and her mother can be left out where any vampire seeking revenge can get her. The choice is completely up to her.

With her mother’s life in her hands Cat realizes that this is battle she can’t win, at least not yet. I personally love a good conspiracy theory and I’ve been looking for a good series that boasts a government agency and the supernatural in an otherwise modern-day setting. I didn’t find that in Russe’s Darkwing Chronicles but I think Frost’s Night Huntress series just might have hit the nail on the hammer. In any case I find myself eager to read the second book in the series, One Foot in the Grave.

Joana’s Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

This is the third set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three Night World stories that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the seventh, eighth, and ninth novels of the series: Huntress, Black Dawn, and Witchlight respectively.

These three tales also mark the beginning of a new saga in the Night World series. As the millennium draws nearer the signs of an impending battle between the forces of good and evil becomes evident. The new abilities that Night Worlders have been developing, mentioned in previous books, are becoming more common. Chaos and violence is breaking out all over the world in seemingly unrelated events, creatures long thought gone have returned, and to top it all off prophecies speak of four people who will have the power to decide the fate of the world – Wild Powers.

In Blue fire, the final darkness is banished.
In blood, the final price is paid.
Four to stand between the light and the shadow,
Four of blue fire, power in their blood.
Born in the year of the blind Maiden’s vision;
Four less one and darkness triumphs.

In short, the Old Powers, forces of nature that have been lying dormant since humans took control of the world are waking up. Something is coming and both sides are scrambling to secure the four Wild Powers for their side.

Huntress is the story of Jez Redfern, a powerful, dangerous, and beautiful vampire. She’s descended from the most powerful, not to mention first, vampire – Hunter Redfern. She’s the leader of her own gang, which consists of other vampires, and she loves the thrill of a hunt. Humans are vermin, they’re just food and nothing more. Naturally, when long suppressed memories force themselves to the forefront of her mind, she’s confused and lost. After all, these memories tell her that her life is a lie. Everything she’s been lead to believe and everything she’s ever said and done to those so called “vermin” comes back to haunt her in an instant. Because, as it turns out, while Jez is indeed a Redfern, she’s also something that shouldn’t be. She’s half-human and half-vampire.

Naturally this revelation rocks Jez’s world, and in a moment of clarity, she realizes she can’t continue the farce of a life she’s been living. With her uncle’s help she makes contact with Circle Daybreak and starts a new life, living as a human. Being a human-vampire hybrid has it’s advantages; so long as she doesn’t call upon her vampiric abilities or drink blood she can live as a normal human. And that’s something that appeals greatly to Jez, because she fears returning to the heartless person she once was before.

Naturally her plan to leave it all behind blows up in her face when the possible location of the first Wild Power is discovered and Circle Daybreak sends Jez in to rescue and protect the Wild Power. You see, it wasn’t Circle Daybreak that found her first, it was Morgead her old second-in-command and the current leader of Jez’s old gang.

The majority of Smith’s Night World stories fall into two categories; humans stumbling upon the Night World and coming to terms with the Night World’s laws and the conflict it creates with their soulmate. Or, members of the Night Worlder finding human soulmates and coming to terms with the fact that the Night World’s laws and the beliefs they held were wrong and biased. Granted, not all of the stories can be easily squished into these two categories, but that is the pattern that the majority followed for the most part with a deviation beginning with Soulmate. With Huntress Smith takes a different route and instead focuses more on the inner struggle that occurs when deciding right from wrong.

Jez is a half human and half vampire. In order to protect from Night Worlders, her uncle Bracken raised her as vampire and along the way Jez adopted the popular view of humans as vermin. With the revelation of her heritage, to continue living in that manner would be hypocrisy. And yet, despite that, the temptation to be what she is, a vampire, remains and it’s one she has to ignore. In this sense, Jez is like an alcoholic. There is no “just one drink” for her. To return to drinking blood will lead back down the dark path she was on. With her soulmate being a vampire as well the temptation is double and tripled. The battle in her mind and heart is deep and moving one that takes nothing away from the story’s advancement.

Black Dawn introduces us to Maggie Neely, a strong-willed and compassionate heroine and Delos Redfern, a vampire prince and the second Wild Power to be found. The story opens up with Maggie being awoken late one night by her mother’s screams. She hurries downstairs and finds her brother’s girlfriend Sylvia Weald standing at the door with park rangers and police. Sylvia is beside herself over the fact that Miles had a climbing accident and is now dead. Maggie, however, smells a big fat blond-haired and violet-eyed rat by the name of Sylvia. Following her gut instincts Maggie tails Sylvia back to her apartment on campus in an attempt to get the truth from her; instead Maggie is rendered unconscious and bereft of answers. When Maggie comes too, she’s in the back of a cart, along with three other girls, and has been sold into slavery to a forgotten Night World kingdom. Now Maggie must search for her missing brother Miles in this dangerous kingdom while presenting herself as a positive representative of humankind to her soulmate and the second Wild Power Delos. All the while skirting Hunter Redfern and Sylvia and keeping Aradia, the blind Maiden of all Witches safe!

One of the other girls in the cart with her, Jeanne, is a slave who has twice now attempted to run away and been captured. She brings Maggie up to speed on their current location and the future that they have to look forward to. Before waking up in the slave cart however, Maggie has a mystical dream shrouded in mist where a boy she’s never met, but who knows her, tells her to get away. Unfortunately for this story, Maggie’s dream doesn’t make a lot of sense and badly interrupts the flow of the story to boot.

To be frank, I had a very hard time accepting the existence of a secret kingdom ruled by people of the Night World that was, subsquently, forgotten by the rest of the Night World. The kingdom remained unchanged and the only glimpses of the modern world came from the human slaves that were captured and brought in. This particular tale has a lot of great potential, there’s deep, strong, and well-developed characters scattered throughout this tale. Yet the premise that it’s based upon seems absurd, even in an urban fantasy setting such as this.

L.J. Smith wraps up the set and the series to date with Witchlight. Now, while Witchlight is not meant to be the last book in the series, it has remained so for some time now – seeing as how the series is still incomplete. The story, for the most part, revolves around Raksha Keller, a shapeshifter able to take the form of a black panther and one of Circle Daybreak’s top operatives. Her mission is simple, locate, protect, and bring Iliana Harman – the third Wild Power – to Circle Daybreak. Problem is, Iliana, despite being a Harman, is a lost witch, just as Gillian (Dark Angel) and Poppy (Secret Vampire) were. This means that she has been raised as a human and has no clue about her heritage or her responsibility. The fact that she’s a boy-crazy ditz obsessed with clothes, graduating, and parties only compounds this problem.

In Keller’s no-nonsense mind it’s very simple. This brainless twit is a Wild Power and it’s her job to make her see that she has a destiny to fulfill. Because, ironically enough, Iliana is more than just a Wild Power and a Harman, she’s also the key to forming an alliance between the Shapeshifters and the Witches. She’s the Witch Child and it is her duty to marry Galen Drache of the First House of Shapeshifters. With their marriage the Shapeshifters will firmly be on the side of Circle Daybreak. And therein lies the problem, because you see, the heart doesn’t understand things like obligation and duty. All that Keller and Galen’s hearts know is that they’re soulmates.

This story remains one of my favorites in the series for a very good reason. This story marks the first book where we get the lore and history of the shapeshifters, not to mention, we get to see the world from the point of view of two different shapeshifters – Keller and Galen. Let’s face it, the series is heavily biased towards the Witches and Vampires and the only mentions we get of the other species (ghouls, werewolves, and shapeshifters) is usually negative. This installment provided a nice change of perspective.

Additionally, the conflict that Keller undergoes as she struggles to comes to term with her duty and what her heart wants is a gripping one. Keller is torn between her duty to the first house of shapeshifters and her love for Gallen. On top of that, there is also the moral struggle of doing what’s right no matter the cost. Do the ends justify the means? That’s a question Keller has to ask herself continuously when she’s faced with Iliana’s refusal to do her duty and her desire to remain “normal”.

Now the question remains, will we ever see the completion of this series? It’s been over a decade since the last book was published and still the readers have been left hanging. The fact that the series is being reprinted in these sets gives me hope that this series will, someday soon, be finished. Some closure would be much appreciated and is long overdue.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

This is the second set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three Night World stories that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the fourth, fifth, and sixth novels of the series: Dark Angel, The Chosen, and Soulmate respectively.

The next three tales in this series continue on where the previous left off. While each is a separate story that revolves around new individuals and the adventure behind finding their soulmate, L.J. Smith continues to masterfully tie in aspects from the previous tales. In doing so, not only does she establish a loose time line, she also manages to give the readers a glimpse of the changes being wrought throughout the Night World while delving even deeper into it.

The following three stories contained in the second volume of the set are progressively darker then their predecessors. In some instances the lines between good and evil are all but obliterated and in others it’s as though the differences couldn’t have been more stark.

In Dark Angel, Smith’s protagonist is once again a human who has unwittingly stumbled into the Night World. Gillian Lennox, a shy and timid young girl in high school has a near-death experiance one day. As she is walking home from school, Gillian hears what sounds like a child sobbing in the woods. Bravely she treks through the snow covered woods only to end up in a freezing river and desperately clinging to life. As she dies she is greeted by what would appear to be an angel, the angel informs her that it wasn’t her time yet and that she can still live. With the angel’s assistance, Gillian returns to her body, without suffering from severe hypothermia and frostbite, and manages to stumble into a nearby road to flag down a car.

That evening it becomes apparent that “Angel” has tagged along and is still with her. A young man who only she can see and hear and he’s determined to help her turn her life around as well. Not to mention upside down. Gillian, like most girls her age, is insecure and longs to be one of the popular crowd and Angel happily whispers the secrets to success. Everything comes with a price however, and it soon becomes apparent that Angel’s price is rather dangerous. Gillian begins dabbling in dark magic spells, under Angel’s guidance, in order to protect the boy she loves, her soulmate David. As time passes however, it becomes clear that Gillian may have to begin using everything she knows to protect herself and David from Angel.

While definately not one of my favorite tales in the series, Dark Angel is definately an enjoyable tale that will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves wishing to be able to change everything in their lives for the better overnight. Initially, Gillian’s naivety and immaturity might grate on the reader’s nerves, especially as seems so cliche and two-dimensional. However, as the story progresses, Gillian’s character growth will more than make up for it. Now, while both Secret Vampire and Daughters of Darkness were mostly told from the point of view of a human character who had stumbled upon the Night World as well, in Dark Angel Smith manages to take a fresh angle on the same scenario regardless. The downside with this tale, however, is that if you paid attention during the previous stories you can almost immediately connect the dots the moment hints are subtlety dropped.

The Chosen is, by far, my favorite tale in this series. While all of the females characters introduced in previous stories had an inner strength and could not be truly called weak, The Chosen is the first story that the female lead is not only strong mentally, physically, and emotionally, she’s also a fighter and survivor. A warrior in every sense of the word.

On her fifth birthday, Rashel Jordan and her best friend Timmy were taken to a carnival by her mother. While climbing through tubes, Rashel lost sight of her friend Timmy. She immediately climbed out and searched for him, when she found him he was in the arms of a vampire who was feeding on him. At this point her mother located them as well and was quickly killed by the vampire. With nothing else to do Rashel made a run for it with the vampire in hot pursuit. She manages to make it to a heavily populated area and does the only thing a child her age can do – scream her lungs off and point at the vampire chasing her. Immediately the adults gather around to see who is hurting the child and the vampire is forced to flee, but not without sending a telepathic message to young Rashel warning that he would be back for her. That night, as she tries to sleep in her Aunt’s house, the vampire tracks her down again and sets fire to the house. Rashel barely escapes, her aunt is not so lucky.

Fast forward to the present time, Rashel is a seventeen year old young woman who has been bounced around from foster home to foster home and is hell bent on finding the vampire that took her loved ones from her. In the mean time, she’s cutting down every vampire that she comes across in her quest for justice. Rashel is one of the few humans who know about the Night World and are actively fighting against this “evil”. Rashel is a lethal vampire hunter who has been expertly trained in the martial arts, and while the name “Rashel Jordan” is unknown to the vampires of the Night World, her moniker of “The Cat” is not.

Things are never so simple however, not everything can be neatly labeled as “good” or “evil” and the world is not just black and white. With Rashel’s tale, Smith takes the opportunity to take all of the preconceived notions of good and evil and flip them on their head. In previous books, Smith had done a good job of setting up several prejudices in her fictional world, all of which get smashed with this tale. One of the first shocks to the system comes within the first few chapters when a group of vampire hunters that Rashel is working with manage to surprise and capture a vampire – Quinn. Yes, the lethal, cold, and completely anti-human, Quinn that makes his first appearance in Daughters of Darkness. What’s more, Rashel’s honor code will not let her stand by and watch the others torture the vampire for fun and possible information. Instead she moves to give him a swift clean end, only to find herself staring at the face of her soulmate.

The Chosen is perhaps the darkest of tales in this series as the heroine and her comrades move to not only go undercover in order to determine what the vampires are plotting, but attempt to stop what amounts to a giant slave ring and large scale massacre. The political machines of the Night World are in motion and it becomes even more apparent that there is something much larger at hand than just humans and Night Worlders finding soulmates with each other.

Soulmate rounds off the stories in this set with a bang. As the suspense and excitement spills over from the previous tales, Soulmate does a wonderful job of continuing on in the same vein and adding to it as well. Hannah Snow’s life has begun to fall apart. She’s got friends, wonderful grades and a chance at making her dream of studying paleontology a reality. Problem is, she’s going insane, or at least she thinks she is. After all, don’t you have to be insane to be writing yourself letters, that you don’t even remember writing, that all say the same thing – you’ll be dead before seventeen?

As the story progresses, however, it becomes readily apparent that there is more to this story than just a crazy girl writing herself death notes. In reality, Hannah Snow is what Night Worlders refer to as an “old soul”, someone who has been born to many different lives throughout the ages. The letters she is writing to herself are actually warnings of what has happened in every single life she has lived, she is always killed before her seventeenth birthday and by the same man as well. A powerful made-vampire, the first of all made-vampires, by the name of Thierry who just so happens to be her soulmate as well.

Say what?!

If that doesn’t sound promising enough, then try this on for size. At long last the ancient history of the Night World is laid out before us. The readers are given the chance to glimpse Hellewise Hearthwoman, the same Hellewise from who all witches are descended from, and her sister Maya. The origins of the vampires is also laid bare and a great deal of it all revolves Hannah, Thiery, and Maya and the first lives they ever lived. On top of all this, Circle Daybreak is no longer just a group of folks who want to see humans and Night Worlders live in peace that is mentioned in passing, we are given the chance to see, first hand, just how well organized they are and some of the members as well. Members whose faces and tales we have glimpsed in previous tales.

With Soulmate Smith is given the oppurtunity to wrap up any loose ends that the previous tales might have left behind and begin a new chapter in the series, an oppurtunity she makes wonderful use of. The readers are able to see what has become of their favorite characters from the stories past, history is at long last revealed and explained, not to mention the stage is set for the next chapter of the series. All of this on top of an already intriguing love triangle between Hannah, Thierry, and Maya that has spanned decades and been the cause of much strife.

While I’ve never much cared for Dark Angel, the inclusion of The Chosen and Soulmate more than make up for it in this set.
Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

At the dawn of the new millennium everyone was concerned with the threat of Y2K. Instead of computers crashing worldwide however, vampires and other so-called mythical creatures stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. During this time, Delilah was growing up in the custody of the state. She was found as an infant and was named after the street she was found on – Delilah. Mystery is, there are no “Delilah” streets in Wichita. Her pale skin attracts vampires like a magnet and Delilah spent most of her traumatizing childhood trying to avoid becoming someone’s dinner.

Now, years later Delilah is an investigative reporter working the paranormal beat on the television station, WTCH TV, in Wichita, KS. She has a Lhasa Apso named Achilles, is dating the vampire anchorman of her television station. In short, all is going well for her – not!

Her life in Wichita begins to go belly up one evening after she tunes in to a new episode of CSI and sees her naked [dead] body lying on a cadaver table and being autopsied. The body is identical to hers down to her nose stud and painted toenails. All to freaky. Later that evening her vampire boyfriend rigs the flowers he gives her with razor blade-thorns in order to get a taste of her blood. Her faithful dog Achilles runs him out after delivering a swift bite to the ankle. Just when it seems as though things can’t get any worse, they do. Turns out her boyfriend was seeing the station’s weather witch on the sly. Her paranormal beat is taken away and she’s bumped to social hum-drum reporting, her dog dies due to being poisoned by the vampire’s blood, and the weather witch decides dropping a tornado on Delilah’s house is fun.

It’s spur of the moment, but Delilah decides that since she wants to know what’s up with her body double anyway, why not pack what remains into her vintage car and head on over to Las Vegas, Nevada. Sin City, home of CineSim productions and Nightwine. She wants answers and Las Vegas has them. And this is where things just become hectic to follow. Delilah’s obsession with everything vintage has her making off the wall comments that reference anything and everything that can be considered vintage. This often leads to Delilah’s commentary and inner-monologue running off on unrelated tangents that left me wondering why we were at point X when we should be at point B.

Werewolves basically own and run Las Vegas, and given the title of the book, I knew that werewolves were going to play an integral part in the plot. And hey, since we have witches and vampires, why not werewolves? However we also suddenly have to contend with the existence of zombies, faeries, and whatever the heck Nightwine and Delilah are. Because folks, despite what Delilah thought, she’s not human and neither is Nightwine; a loose end the author has left dangling for us readers. The author’s initial description of this post-Y2K world leads us to believe that only vampires, witches, and werewolves (on account of the book’s title) exist. Yet there is more out there and they just pop out at the author’s whim. The author never truly establishes ground rules for the supernatural beings that exist and the forces that drive this world. This suspends the believability of the author’s world, and coupled with the disjointed narrative, makes for a jarring and headache-filled read.

To add to the unbelievability, after spending the entire novel harping on Delilah’s unknown origins, her lousy childhood, and her quest for answers, Delilah just gives up on the search for her twin. I have a very hard time believing that an orphan, who never got adopted out of the system, who has no friends or social life, and who has always questioned her origins, would just give up the search for a possible sibling in the face of a romantic interest. A romantic interest who doesn’t even get much “screen time” so to speak.

I picked this book up because it had supernatural elements and a strong female character. Now, while Delilah is an enjoyable character and is indeed every bit the strong character I thought she would be, the disjointed writing detracts from the story greatly. The author’s attempts at being witty and sarcastic begin to fall flat as the tangents pile up, and eventually, completely confound the reader. For example, at one point Delilah mentions an “inner-girlfriend” and initially I honestly couldn’t tell if she was trying to be witty or serious. That is very sad. I thought this series had a great deal of potential, but the aforementioned problems will likely keep me from pursuing this series any further.

In the end it was as if nothing was solved. Dangling ends abound, and while I understand that it’s important to keep some avenues open for a sequel, leaving all of the major avenues unexplored makes a reader question why they even bothered reading the book to begin with. This, coupled with the fact that Delilah’s inner-monologue and narration was disjointed and confusing for the most part, left me with a rather bitter taste in my mouth, come the conclusion of the book. Where was the book that I read all the rave reviews about on Amazon? It certainly wasn’t Dancing with Werewolves by Carole Nelson Douglas, that’s for sure.

Joana’s Rating: (2 out of 5 stars)

It’s been a while since I could bring myself to read this series. I used to be a huge fan and an avid reader of the series, but after Incubus Dreams my interest in the series all but died. I even had a hard time reading old favorites in the series as the disapointment always returned with an abandon. However, reading Micah managed to draw me in again. Still, I remained leery of the series regardless and this book ended up sitting in my TBR (To Be Read) pile for many months after receiving it through Paperback Swap.

I have to say, this is more like the Anita Blake vampire hunter books that I read and fell in love with all those years ago. And yet, it’s still nowhere near the level that the previous books achieved; with Obsidian Butterfly being the truly last great one.

The Harlequin opens up with Anita in her office, a not unfamiliar beginning, and Malcolm, leader of the church of eternal life sitting across from her. Despite his strong dislike of her and Jean-Claude, Malcolm finds himself seeking their assistance to save his congregation. He knows Anita has a warrant of execution for one of his members but he suspects that they’re being framed. He cannot name who he thinks may be behind it, for it is taboo, so he leaves Anita with this ambiguous request to deliver to Jean-Claude.

That night, while at the cinema with Nathaniel celebrating their anniversary, Anita is the recipient of a strange gift that is not Nathaniel’s doing. The gift is an unpainted white mask, much like those seen during Mardi Gras. After a quick call to Jean-Claude the unnamed scary guys that Malcolm feared might be involved have been named, they are the Harlequin. The Harlequin are the vampire police and modeled, in a sense, after the legends of the Wild Hunt in order to drive fear into the hearts of vampires everywhere. Only Marmee Noir, the Mother of all Darkness, invokes more fear than these guys. Jean-Claude assures Anita that receiving a white mask is a good sign, it merely means that they’re there to observe, and not necessarily them. It’s the red and black masks you have to really fear.

What makes these guys so frightening is the fact that they’re powerful, their identities are unknown, and they are judge, jury, and executioner all in one. They have laws they have to abide by though, and unfortunately for Anita and her harem, it would appear that the rules have been thrown out the window. It sounds like a very promising plot, and really it would have been, but the problems of previous books bleeds over into this one as well sadly. When the book first started it seemed as though Hamilton was going to keep the attention where it really should be, the actual story. And since over a hundred pages pass before Hamilton feels the need to employ her deus ex machina (a.k.a the ardeur) it feels like the story itself will advance, characters will be fleshed out, and there will be some scintillating sex to spice things up. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

During Nathaniel and Anita’s outing Nathaniel brings up the fact that Anita isn’t meeting all of his needs. At first I thought it was great that, that scene was in there. A major point of growth for Nathaniel, who started off as nothing more than Reina and Gabrielle’s perfect submissive sex toy, and who would never have thought to voice his complaints and necessities in a relationship. Anita is uncomfortable with where he wants to take their sex life since she’s not comfortable with that part of her self. A bit hypocritical since she enjoys rough and bloody sex and all Nathaniel is asking her to do is tie him up, but okay, fine, whatever. A few pages later, Hamilton completely underscores the importance of the scene by bringing Byron and Requiem into the equation and making it more about who is having sex with Anita and who isn’t, but wants to.

The relationship between the were and vampire community is a tenuous one at best and the corner stone that apparently holds everything together is, you guessed it, who does and doesn’t get to have sex with Anita. Using the ardeur, Hamilton adds to Anita’s ever growing lists of conquests, and this time it’s characters you just never wanted to see Anita have sex with. After all, they’re characters you’ve come to respect and never expected or wanted to see end up as one of her many lovers – Raphael the rat king and Donovan Reece the swan king. Before that, Hamilton utilized the ardeur in order to work in a dream-sex sequence between Belle Morte and Anita as well. Something that was otherwise improbable given that Anita didn’t have any inclinations towards the fairer sex, gosh but that ardeur sure comes in handy!

The drama between Richard and Anita is still not resolved and honestly looks like it never will be. In fact, Richard’s anger, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, and rage is just old and reaching new heights of absurdity. He pretty much tried to kill Anita which winds up nearly killing all three of them along with Damien and Nathaniel, and yet still the two won’t move on. Yes, they are tied through Jean-Claude, but really, it’s obvious that it’s time they agree on friends and being tied and nothing more. After fifteen books in the series, at least ten of which I’ve actively disliked Richard, I still can’t fathom why they can’t just move on from each other. I will always think that Micah and Nathanial are the better matches for Anita on the shifter front. That said, every time Richard started posturing like a drama queen I found myself skimming over that portion. This is a character that has really just gotten out of control and kills the emotion and mood no matter what the situation.

Despite the good start that the book had, Anita and her harem spent the majority of The Harlequin either talking about the sex they had, sex in the future, who will and will not be having sex with Anita, who wants to have sex with her, and what the sex was like. In fact, it wasn’t until more than halfway through the book before Anita gets serious about the Harlequin. About a quarter of the book was left before Anita met up with Edward and his backup and went hunting. It was good seeing Edward again, and Olaf, even if they were shells of their former selves.

One thing that really did not sit well with me was deal with the lions. The Rex of the werelions is a married man and his wife doesn’t want to share him with Anita, period. Understandable, right? Apparently not in Anita and everyone else’s books. In this situation Anita just came off as a selfish bitch, especially when she attempted to bully the Rex over it towards the end.

Initially The Harlequin was a vast improvement over the last few installments in the series, but that progress was quickly halted as the book progressed. The actual story became bogged down with the endless prattle about sex with Anita and was shunted to the foreground. It’s readily apparent that the author’s focus is on sex and only sex when character introductions include lines that go along the lines of: “I slept with him when…” and “underneath those clothes is a body built like…..believe me, I know”. Between comments like that and her treatment of the werelion’s Rex, my respect for Anita has fallen significantly.

The Harlequin themselves, along with the appearance of Edward and Olaf, and the time spent with Anita’s wereleopard pard were the savings grace of the book for me. But over all I found this book to be only a slight improvement in quality. The first hundred pages or so of The Harlequin will suck you in and keep you hooked, but the story quickly drags and soon it becomes apparent that the story simply will not advance until we’ve had several back to back sexcapades and some pointless banter of who has and hasn’t had sex with Anita yet and what it’s done for them.

Joana’s Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

This is the first set in the newly reprinted collection of the Night World series by L.J. Smith that was first published in 1996. The series is being reprinted now in three volumes, each containing three of the Night World novels that were originally published on their own separately. Included in this set are the first three novels of the series: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, and Spellbinder respectively. Grab something to eat or drink and get comfortable folks, this is going to be a long post.

The Night World, as it were, is not so much a world but a society that runs parallel and, at times, intertwined with the world as we know it. The Night World is comprised of vampires, shapeshifters, and witches, along with a handful of other supernatural things, and is ruled by a governing body that is comprised of representatives of each species. Each species, however, has their monarchy who dictate to them. There are numerous rules that each species adheres to, but the two that are of the utmost importance are:

1. Never tell humans that it [Night World] exists.
2. Never fall in love with a human.

As you can well imagine, the Night World Series is comprised of tales when these two fundamental rules are broken.

Secret Vampire starts the series off. In this first story, L.J. Smith introduces a handful of characters who will play fundamental roles in the events to come. She also takes the opportunity in this story, as well as the following two, to lay down the foundations of the world in which these characters live. In doing so her supernatural characters become that much more understandable and the differences between the human and non-human characters, both superficial and non, become readily apparent.

The story revolves around Poppy, a young high school girl just starting the summer vacation of her senior year in high school, and James Rasmussen a living vampire and her long-time best friend. At the beginning of the summer Poppy is diagnosed pancreatic cancer, a terminal form of cancer with a less than 1% chance of survival. For James, sitting back and watching Poppy die is not an option, but the only other option is to turn her into a vampire. The second option opens up a whole new can of worms as it will not only break every rule set into place by the Council, but will also force the both of them to go on the run. To top it off, James’ cousin, Ash Redfern, is in town. Ash seems to care nothing for humans, with the exception of females he can play with. When Ash discovers Poppy’s secret all hell breaks loose.

With the knowledge of Poppy’s inevitable death, no matter what choice she makes, there comes a roller coaster of emotion to ride out. Fear of the unknown, the loss of everything she holds dear, and everything in between, Poppy’s emotions run the full gambit giving a very realistic feel to what it must be like to know that you are dying and your only choice is to die or die, wake up, and leave your life behind. The final showdown between James, Phillip (Poppy’s twin brother) and Ash however felt rushed and a bit anticlimactic. The juicy tidbit of information regarding Poppy’s possible heritage that Ash dangles before Poppy and James however is rather ironic and slightly surprising. I say only slightly surprising as Smith was very careful to drop hints early on in the book, though they can be easily overlooked for the most part.

In Daughters of Darkness the trouble making Ash Redfern makes a return, this time he’s been sent to track down and return his three renegade sisters (Jade, Rowan, and Kestrel) to the safe and isolated Night World alcove from which they ran away from. In the process however, he comes across a human female who has the courage and fortitude that most Night Worlders do not, to go toe to toe with Ash Redfern. Ash, his sisters, Mary-Lynette, and her brother Mark find themselves mixed up in a good old fashioned whodunit. Mrs. Burdock, Ash and his sister’s great-aunt Opal, was found staked in her basement on the day the girls arrived. Initially clues point to the possibility of a vampire hunter and then Ash, but it soon becomes apparent that there’s more to her murder.

On top of all this, the six teens find themselves racing the clock to solve the mystery because by the end of the week an old and ruthless made-vampire whose reputation can give Ash pause will be checking to make sure Ash has taken care of everything. Where as Ash tolerates humans and has found his soulmate in the form of Mary-Lynette, Quinn utterly despises humans and is the sort to take Night World law into his own hands if it’s not enforced properly. This was the first mystery of the series, and L.J. Smith definitely handled it with finesse.

One other thing that stood out to me was the fact that Rowan, Kestrel and Jade supposedly ran away from the alcove they had been living at because of its strict and traditional living. Women in dresses, men rule while women kowtow to males, no music or television from the “outside” and so forth. And yet, aside from instance where Jade becomes alarmed when a boy catches her listening to music, the girls do not appear to have been cutoff from the outside world their entire lives. There is no adjustment period and no learning stage. Not really believable.

In the end, when the killer is revealed, it’s not only an “Ah-hah!” moment, but also a bit heart breaking as well. After all, he was such a nice guy and his reasons were understandable. In short, the reader can’t help but to sympathize with the “villain” and it becomes readily apparent that there is no right or wrong side in the story. It’s also interesting to note that the ending is not quite so happy as it is bittersweet, which makes this tale differ drastically from the other two in the set.

Spellbinder focuses around the two young witches that Ash introduced to Poppy in Secret Vampire. Blaise and Thea Harman are both young witches in their senior year attending a new school after being kicked out of the last one. Blaise enjoys flaunting her abilities to toy with human boys, and as a result, has gotten both her and her cousin kicked out of five schools since their sophomore year. Now, Blaise and Thea are living with their grandmother, the Crone of all witches, with the threat of being sent to a Connecticut alcove (referred to as the “Convent”) hanging over their heads. At the new school however trouble is already brewing on the first day. Thea meets Eric Ross who is an all-around star athlete at the school and a scholastic overachiever looking into becoming a veterinarian and Blaise’s new target.

Initially, spells start flying as these two duke it out over the boy and then again when Blaise realizes that a human is her cousin’s soulmate – something she’d rather stop in order to protect Thea from Night World law. Likewise the effort she goes through to help her cousin who chooses her soulmate over the Night World was heartwarming. From the beginning it was apparent that Thea considered Blaise to be like a sister to her, and although there were times when one would doubt it, it became very apparent that Blaise felt exactly the same. The bond between these two truly stood up against all odds.

With the exception of Eric, who I just didn’t care much for, Smith did an excellent job on characterization. Each character, both major and minor, brought something to the story that would have been lost without them. I found the relationship between Blaise and Thea to be of more interest than that of Thea and Eric though. Eric’s personality was rather bland and easily pushed to the background when more than two characters were present. Despite Blaise’s rather cruel hobby, it’s clear that she’s no “evil witch” and does in fact care a great deal about not only Thea but her fellow Night Worlders as well.

With the conclusion of this story we also get the sense that something fundamental in the Night World underway. Previously, it was only vampires, Redfern descendants and cousins, who were discovering their soulmates amongst the humans. With Thea we learn that the changes underway are affecting multiple species and that there is an underground movement tied to it as well. Night Worlders are finding their soulmates one after another, something that has been hinted at in all three books as being unusual, and amongst humans no less. And then there are the murmurings of the approaching millennium as well. With that tantalizing thought in mind, the following novels promise to be very interesting.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

In the Forests of the Night, Atwater-Rhodes’ first novel, which was written while she was only thirteen years old, is an engaging tale told from the heroine’s point of view in first-person. The book’s title is a line taken from a poem written by William Blake, entitled “The Tiger”, and fits both the character and the story remarkably well. Which, I confess, is something I doubted when I first read this book.

The story’s heroine, Risika, a three hundred year old vampire living in modern day Concord, Massachusetts has a very jaded and solemn view of humans and life in general. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it appears as though she has spent the last three hundred years just existing. But of course, nothing can remain unchanged forever. One night, after visiting Tora the Bengal tiger at the city’s zoo, Risika accidentally strays into another vampire’s territory while chasing that evening’s prey. While in the vampire’s territory she is spotted by a human lackey and looses her prey. Rather than back down, Risika chooses to show that she is not “afraid” of Aubrey, the vampire whose territory she is trespassing upon, and feeds off of the lackey who caused her to loose her prey. In doing so, Risika sets into motion a string of confrontations between herself and Aubrey, a vampire who is not only stronger than her, but the one who killed her twin brother and whose mere presence frightens Risika.

As the story progresses we are able to see Risika finally cast off the fear that has held her stagnate for several centuries and grow into her own. Upon the conclusion of the book, not only does Risika grow into her power, but she finds herself as well. Her need for blood and eternal youth aside, this makes Risika a character that anyone, especially young readers, can identify with. The story also touches upon the ambiguous moral grounds of good versus evil as Risika struggles to understand that not everything in life is black and white.

One thing that truly impressed me about this story was the fact that Atwater-Rhodes did not feel the need to clutter the tale up by throwing in unnecessary romantic entanglements on the sidelines that would ultimately detract from the story. Instead the focus stays where it should be, Risika’s long over due “coming of age” and the events that made her who she is.

Despite being centuries old however, Risika comes off as a teenager herself and never once appears to have aged mentally since the death of her mortal self. Considering how old she is and the fact that she has supposedly lived amongst humans for the majority of the time, she does not carry a sense of age about her. There is nothing in her attitude and persona that links her with the history that defined her. In all honesty, all of the vampires introduced to us have a modern air and utterly lack influence from the eras that created them. Other characters, who are as equally old as Risika, or even older, also sport this same flaw. It’s almost laughable when Risika refers to Ather, the one who made her, as her “dark mother”. It’s very difficult to connect the word “mother” with Ather when the only glimpses of this character we have been given are those of an arrogant and posturing woman who, for all intents and purposes, comes off more as the “Queen of the Campus” rather than “Queen of the Damned”.

There were also a few minor inconsistencies in the book as well. Some of Risika’s thoughts and actions contradicted previous statements, and without explanation, the author plowed on. For example, at the beginning of chapter twelve Risika states that after she became a vampire she never returned to her home again¹. Yet in the very first sentence in the opening paragraph of chapter fifteen, Risika contradicts this by stating that she did in fact return home after a few years². In that same chapter Risika states that when she returned no one saw her and yet a few pages later it is revealed that her father did see her, although he dismissed it, and again in chapter seventeen it is mentioned that he sees her, although he does not recognize her.

It was conflicting statements like these that raised the question of whether or not the author truly understood where her story was headed. Not to mention the fact that it made taking anything that Risika said at face value a tad difficult since the reader begins to expect a contradiction to every “fact” a page or so later. And of course, it just utterly annoys and confuses the reader as well!

Now, since the copy I’ve read and reviewed was first printed back in 1999 and there has been at least one reprint since then, it is possible that those problems were ironed out, although it is doubtful. For the most part, In the Forests of the Night is a quick and easy to read tale that will amuse young adult readers as well as more advanced readers. However, the sheer childishness of Risika and story contradictions will keep it from ever becoming a “great read”.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

1. First edition, chapter 12, page 80: “After the day when I lost my mortal soul, I never went back to my old home”.
2. First edition, chapter 15, page 100: “I did not return to my home for three years, and when I finally did, no one saw me.”

Breaking Dawn is the much anticipated fourth and [in a sense] final installment in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. So many questions had arisen throughout the series, the most pressing of which revolving around the heroine’s love interest, whether or not she too would become a vampire, and the condition the treaty between the Cullens and the werewolves would be left in. Pressing issues that we, the readers, had all been dying to see answered. Please be advised, this review does contain some spoilers despite my attempts to keep them to a minimum.

Our lingering questions were certainly answered. The manner in which they were answered, however, left much to be desired. Throughout the series I had the distinct impression that Bella’s maturity had grown. While she was able to take care of herself, in a fashion, and acted much like an adult in a teenager’s body with regards to most aspects of a young adult’s life, she was an infant in matters of the heart. With this installment however, it was as though Bella did a horrendous backslide in terms of character growth and maturity. Not to mention, her actions did not seem at all inline with her personality.

In previous books, Edward tried to talk Bella out of becoming a vampire by dangling the benefits of mortality that she would loose. One of which being her ability to have children. Bella was supposedly not at all interested in having children and did not consider that a loss in the least. Yet, the moment she realizes she’s pregnant Bella immediately loves the child growing in her and wants to keep it. As someone who never wants children, let me just say that such a drastic turnaround in such a short amount of time really is not believable. This of course brings me to the second thing that confused me and detracted greatly from the reading experiance – keeping the child.

When it was known that Bella was pregnant I could not understand why she not only wanted to go through with it, but that others were supporting it. Especially given the information mentioned in the beginning of the book with regards to child-vampires. Why would Bella and the Cullens take the risk of being hunted and killed by the Volturi? Bella’s actions were completely at odd with her love for the Cullens, who she claimed to consider family, and put everyone at risk. Given that Bella’s character is one of self-sacrifice, the danger of keeping the child and the sheer number of lives the process would have “endangered” made the decision to keep the child completely selfish and just plain stupid.

At the point in time that Bella decided to keep the child she knew only that: child-vampires could not grasp the need for secrecy, thus endangering covens and all vampires alike; could wipe out whole villages due to their thirst; were outlawed by the Volturi and any coven that made or harbored a child-vampire would be executed immediately. Not to mention the fact that, for all accounts and purposes, Bella’s pregnancy should not have even been possible, which left them in unknown territory. Given this knowledge what logic was there for a self-sacrificing young woman who cares deeply for her loved ones and friends to put hundreds of people at risk? Based on the knowledge she had at the time, the Cullens would immediately become a target of the Volturi, the werewolves, or at least Jacob, would be dragged into it, not to mention the humans that might be munched on by her vampire-child. Granted, the book ended on a “happily ever after” note and the worst-case scenario didn’t come true. However, the choice of the heroine was, none the less, illogical and rash.

This of course raised questions and doubts over the level of Bella’s maturity and ability to be a mother. Bella spent her time during the beginning of the book focused only on her honeymoon and becoming a vampire – sex and immortality – with no real consideration to how her single mindedness was hurting Edward. Add in the purely selfish desire to keep the child and her inability to let Jacob be, after hearing from his own mouth how her clinging to him still hurt, and one really has to wonder if she, a child herself, has the right mentality and maturity to raise a child. This book sends out a very mixed messages and I couldn’t help but feel as though the author was trying to say “so long as you have a man everything will go alright” upon the conclusion of the book. Husband, money, baby, immortality, and she’ll never have to work a day in her life – Bella got it all and gave up nothing.

The change of point of view from Bella to Jacob was, initially, jarring. However, it did provide invaluable insight that would have otherwise been lost if the story had been told entirely from Bella and the Cullen’s point of view. I thought that Meyer did an excellent job of showcasing the fears of the pack as well as providing valuable insight into Jacob’s thoughts and feelings. After reading from his perspective it was became clear that there was much more to the angry and irrational Jacob that had been portrayed in Eclipse. I also thought that Meyer did an impeccable job of fleshing out her characters even more and giving us a much better understanding of them. Specifically I was surprised and pleased to see how Seth, Leah, and Rosalie were fleshed out so. I would have liked to seen more attention given to Emmet however, as he remained the only member of the Cullens that I never really got a feel for.

Breaking Dawn definately had a darker feel to it then any of the other books in the series, which was very appropriate given the book’s title, as it is always darkest right before the dawn after all. Now, while I will agree that the content was more mature and darker than the previous books in the series, I would not go so far as to say that it was too much. Rather it had just the right feel to it. Bella had reached a major turning point in her life and was shedding her adolescence as well her humanity in this book. Despite several aspects that detracted greatly from the believability of the characters and their choices, not to mention the mixed single this book sends, it was an enjoyable read. Meyer’s writing style manages to keep readers turning the pages regardless of the disappointments.

Followers of the series will definately want to read this final book to see how it all comes together. There is no question that this is an entertaining and gripping series that you will want to follow from start to finish. However, be prepared for a less than spectacular finale. The magic that first hooked me when I read Twilight remained throughout New Moon and Eclipse. With regards to Breaking Dawn however, I found the magic to be much diluted. It lingered on like the faint aroma of an enchanting fragrance in an empty room; the remnants of an alluring past.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

Kitty and the Silver Bullet picks up not long after the events of the previous book, Kitty Takes a Holiday. At this point in time Cormac has already spent a bit of time behind bars while Kitty and Ben have begun strengthening their relationship, and thus forming their “pack of two”. Despite the fact that a little bit of time has passed since the events of the previous book, Vaughn does an admirable job of keeping the momentum carried over from KTaH going strong.

Now that Kitty and Ben have established their relationship and Kitty’s show is back on air and as popular as ever it seems like everything is going great for our favorite werewolf. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Kitty’s mother’s health takes a turn for the worst prompting Kitty to ignore her exile from Denver in order to be by her mother’s side. The leaders of her former pack, Carl and Meg, are none too pleased to hear she’s back and are quite ready to rip her apart to say the least, but in actual, they turn out to be the least of Kitty’s problems. Arturo, Denver’s Master Vampire, is losing his control over the vampire population of Denver and war between Arturo and Rick has begun with both scurrying to gather troops for the upcoming battle – and they both want Kitty’s assistance.

Throw in the fact that, despite what they thought, not all of the kinks have been worked out in Ben and Kitty’s relationship. As well as a few biological anomalies previously unknown to Kitty and you have one exciting, action-packed adventure in your hands. Just when you think you know everything there is to know about the complex world that Kitty has found herself in you, along with Kitty, have the wind taken out of your sails and new hurdles are laid down. The fourth novel provided a much wanted and needed look into the vampire’s world, and even then, Vaughn gave the readers and Kitty only a glimpse of what lays beneath the surface. While a werewolf pack is fairly straightforward, we learn that there is a complex and dangerous hierarchy that governs the vampires and the politics of this species is as deadly as their fangs. Certainly by the end we [the readers] have a much better understanding of what makes them tick, yet with this newfound knowledge came a ton of new questions.

Aside from the chance to get a better understanding for the structure of the vampire’s lives in Kitty’s world, I was pleased to see that there was a great deal of character growth in this book, and not just on Kitty’s part either; not even Cormac was exempt from this. The most noticeable growth was seen in Kitty, who we get to see truly do a complete 180 from where we initially saw her in Kitty and the Midnight Hour. Over the course of the series she has grown by leaps and bounds, but in the course of this single book, these changes are all emphasized and come together nicely. Kitty has a great deal of strength, emotionally, physically, and mentally, and steps up into a role she would have never been able to fulfill before.

Ben and Kitty’s relationship, as I mentioned previously, starts off seemingly perfect, but over the course of the novel the flaws in their relationship are soon noticeable. Like any couple, Ben and Kitty have their quirks and hangups which make their relationship strained at times. Rather than ignoring these problems, as they might have done at an earlier point in time, they work through the difficulties while combating multiple enemies on several fronts.

In short, Kitty and the Silver Bullet ties up several loose ends and brings closure to several arcs in the Kitty Norville series while opening up new avenues of possibility at the same time. Now that Carl and Meg are out the picture, Kitty has a werewolf pack to lead and a new level of responsibility and a role of leadership to contend with. She’s gained a home and an extended family with but one can’t help but to wonder what new troubles this might bring. Not to mention, one can hardly picture Mercedes Cook, and other vampires, leaving everything as it is. The only aspect I found disappointing in this novel was the epilogue for the sense of finality it brought to Kitty and Cormac’s possible relationship. While I do like the chemistry between Ben and Kitty I couldn’t help but to feel saddened that Cormac had truly lost his chance for a future with Kitty. I had really been looking forward to Cormac’s release for that very reason.

Joana’s rating: (5 out of 5 stars)

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)