Sunday, December 28, 2014

Melanie's Week in Review - December 28, 2014





I can hardly believe this is my last Week in Review for 2014. Where has this year gone? I have read so many good books this year and a few not so good ones. So what did I read this week?

I was having a little trawl of my Amazon recommendations when I came across Monster by Carmen Caine which is the first in the Cassidy Edwards series. Cassidy is unique in the supernatural world. Her mother was turned into a vampire when she was pregnant with Cassidy and rather than drinking blood Cassidy sucks the life force out of her victims. Cassidy is on a mission, a mission to kill the vampire who turned her mother. Her path to revenge is not so straightforward as she takes a job for the hunky, warlock Lucian. She is joined on the mission by Lucian's quirky band a misfits including a happy go lucky werewolf, a firedrake with an attitude and a turmeric addicted imp.

I thought this book was OK, especially for a first in a series. Cassidy was not as irritating as I thought she could be but did think that the some of the explanation of her powers (or emergence of her powers) was a bit weak. In parts they seemed to more of a plot device rather than a well constructed supernatural being. I did think that Caine a few good surprises in store for Cassidy and it has made me want to continue with the series.

I also downloaded a free novel when I was checking out my recommendations. I can't remember it's
title and it was soo bad I only read 3 chapters and immediately deleted it from my Kindle. I am not sure why I decided to download it as I don't normally like romantic science fiction but this one ran more into erotica and the 'hero' was such a misogynist that it was low on the actual romance.

Lucky for me that High Stakes, the third in the Bo Blackman series by Helen Harper, had also popped onto my Kindle. This third instalment starts relatively soon after the end of book 2 where Bo was given the cure for vampirism, extricated herself from the Families and started a new job in a supernatural PI firm. Life as a vampire isn't an easy one as tensions are high between human population and the vampire Families. After begrudgingly taking on the case of an allegedly vampire dog Bo finds herself investigating the brutal rape of a young woman. The case is truly brutal and Bo soon discovers it may not be the first but one of the few where the victim escapes. Her maker and love interest Michael Monserrat is there to help her with the case and save her life ...again. Time is ticking on Bo's decision whether or not to take the cure and like Bo you are left guessing whether her new life as a vampire is better for her or not.

I think Harper could put us out of our misery with the 'will she/won't she' with Michael. There is teasing and slow burn romance but 3 books is time for our heroine to make a decision. Overall, the murder mystery was quite gory but I enjoyed the development of Bo as a character and I didn't guess 'who dunnit'.

That is it for me for this year and this year. I started Transmuted by Karina Cooper but I am not finished with it yet so will leave you guessing until 2015 as to what I think. Until next year...Happy Reading.

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