The crack is back. This book will either allow you to exit the BDB world satisfied…or suck you right back in with a vengeance.
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This is the book that most Black Dagger Brotherhood fans have been eagerly anticipating ever since the Butch/V bromance turned out to be strictly platonic (if you ignore the occasional voyeurism and ambiguous moments of male bonding). I’m going to try and do this with as few spoilers are possible, but I can’t guarantee not to let details slip, so consider yourself warned.
Blaylock and Qhuinn have been best of friends even before they transitioned (the BDB vampire equivalent of puberty), but between Qhuinn’s indiscriminate and rampant sexcapades, and Blaylock’s homosexuality and unrequited love for his best mate, it’s really all they can do to be in the same room without descending into the sort of delicious angst that has made this series so addictive. Bad timing and some ill-chosen words have led them to believe that their more-than-friends feelings will never be returned by the other.
Qhuinn and Layla are expecting a baby, and Blay is in a committed relationship with Saxton, but they’re all living in the Brotherhood mansion, and they keep running into each other. At the gym. Half naked. With bulging biceps. And rampant and spontaneous erections. (People prone to stiffies shouldn’t really be going commando.) As you do. In one of my favourite scenes—because, come on, how cracktastic is this?—Blay finds the Room of Requirement and indulges his wanksting in a spectacular way. (This is what happens when boys don’t go through puberty in the usual way.)
Blay is probably one of the most well-adjusted BDB characters, so it’s Qhuinn who has to undergo a big emotional journey in this book. In typical BDB fashion, he is filled with self-loathing, mostly over things over which he has no control. Qhuinn’s issues stem from his family’s rejection of him, to the point where his brother was involved in bashing him up almost to death. His desire for a traditional family, to be a father, and his inability to reconcile this dream with a possible relationship with Blay is the biggest hurdle in their relationship.
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The pacing and plotting are not as balanced as in the first book. Mostly we’re just along for the ride—but it’s still a fabulous trip.
Blood Bound is the second book of Patricia Briggs’s hugely popular urban fantasy series featuring Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter nominally mated to a werewolf and formerly employed by a fae mechanic. (As I mentioned in my review of Moon Called, this series is book crack.) After Mercy’s adventures in the first book, she’s asked to return a favour by accompanying her vampire buddy, Stefan, on a mysterious errand that ends in gruesome violence when they discover a demon-possessed sorcerer turned vampire on a killing rampage.
This new vampire is deadly, and Mercy reluctantly agrees to leave the hunting to stronger creatures. After one of the werewolves turns up barely alive, Adam, the pack alpha, and Samuel, Mercy’s werewolf housemate, go hunting themselves. Unfortunately, werewolves turn out to be highly susceptible to demon magic, which causes them to lose control. When Mercy gets a late-night visit from the demon vampire, she realises that her friends are in the vampire’s hands and she has until sunset to save them.
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The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (The Blood of Eden, Book 1)
A compelling read, given Julie Kagawa’s brilliant writing and ability to create characters we can sympathise with, but it offers nothing new in terms of the vampire mythos.
Oh how I wanted so badly to LOVE this book! It had all the ingredients of a five-star read—most especially in today’s young adult (YA) market. Post-apocalyptic? Check. Vampires? Check. Did I hear you say, What about zombies? Check that, too (though they’re not named thus in the book, they are pretty much the mindless, walking dead with a one-track mind: to eat you).
Throw in a feisty katana-wielding female lead and a love interest worthy of being swooned at and it should have been a straightforward A+. Ach, but it pains me to admit that it falls short of being mind blowing.
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Photo: Blood by xTrish (via Flickr)
Warning: Not for the squeamish. (And I haven’t had this much fun with euphemisms ever.)
I love a good vampire romance as much as the next Twilight fan, and I love it when authors force their ethical vampire heroes to fall in lust with human heroines. It’s a heady thrill to read about the excruciating dilemma of a vegetarian vampire, a conscientious objector when it comes to live blood sport, whose instincts throb in the presence of his One True Love and her pulsating arteries.
It’s why we let Edward get away with stalking bloody Bella. Because he’s conflicted! And hungry! And noble! And sparkly!
Wait, what?
But seriously. There’s a question that has never been addressed to my satisfaction by any paranormal romance or urban fantasy book I’ve read:
What happens every month when Aunt Flo is visiting, when all is not quiet on the waterfront, when the heroine is trolling for vampires?
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Heartless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 4)
The latest instalment of the Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series proves that some things can get even better with time.
Alexia Maccon (nee Tarrabotti) has got herself into trouble again. Aside from the ‘infant inconvenience’ that has led to everyone trying to kill her—featuring, this time around, zombie, semi-mechanised porcupines—she has to solve a plot to assassinate the Queen. All while waddling about, moving, investigating her husband’s past, fussing over members of the pack and having tea.
This latest instalment of the Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series proves that some things can get even better with time. This book was just as witty and compelling as the others—I read it at every possible moment—and even more creative. (The porcupines were totally original.) Alexia, despite being preggers and totally dependent on her parasol, hunky werewolves and her unflappable butler to prop her up, still manages to save the day and pop out a baby besides. (Yes, the progeny makes its appearance in this one, which is not a spoiler since you can tell that from the size of her in chapter one.)
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Lover Unleashed by J. R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 9) - Australian/UK edition
A book for those already invested in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Prepare for more darkness than usual and don’t expect all your questions to be answered up front.
It’s not going to surprise anyone to read that I approach a new Black Dagger Brotherhood book differently to any other book. I scribble notes as I go along and I started reading Lover Unleashed with a mental checklist:
Is there anything written on the inside cover in the Old Language?
No, but there are crossed daggers, one black hilt, one white. Symbolism?
Are there any new words in the glossary?
Lhenihan – ‘A mythic beast renowned for its sexual prowess. In modern slang, it refers to a male of preternatural size and sexual stamina.’ Hmm, interesting.
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Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter, Book 3)
A solid instalment in the series, despite the exhausting intensity of the romance and a slightly underdeveloped external plot.
This review was originally submitted as an entry for the ARRC2011 Reader Challenge and was selected to be in the final round.
Archangel’s Consort continues the story of Elena, former Guild Hunter and newly made angel, and her lover Raphael, the archangel of New York. Vampires are breaking their Contracts all over the city and archangels are showing signs of madness. Either an old foe is targeting Elena, Raphael’s greatest vulnerability, or an ancient power is awakening—one that Raphael will have to confront but may not be able to vanquish.
Newcomers to the Guild Hunter series shouldn’t find it difficult to pick up the basic characteristics of the world that Nalini Singh has created. The violence is graphic, but less so than in previous books. The power struggles between angels may get confusing, but it’s easy enough to follow the external plot even without fully understanding these nuances.
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Somehow, a vampire snuck into my Blaze. I am so outraged. An open letter to Mills & Boon.
Dear Mills & Boon,
I heart your category romances; you know I do. I love some of your authors like a sheikh loves his billions.
But Harlequin, we have a problem.
Last week, I had nothing to read, so I decided to open one of the many ebooks sitting in my Reader, waiting for just this moment: the in-between TBRs decision dilemma*. I had a bunch of titles from Mills & Boon’s Everyone’s Reading website. I was surfacing from a historical romance binge, so I was eager to get into Kimberly Raye’s Cody.
I didn’t read the blurb when I downloaded the ebook. It was a Blaze. I thought it would be safe to assume a few things about the book.
When I open a Blaze, I expect a contemporary story with a bit of drama, a bit of humour and, more often than not, urban lifestyle issues. I can usually relate to the characters’ conflicts, secrets and insecurities.
But this one? The first page is set some time after the US Civil War. And the hero? Well, he’s a vampire. Yes, a freaking vampire!
Let me take a deep breath and calm down, because…
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Decadence looks back at the books that highlighted her 2010 reading year.
If I had to sum up 2010 in one word as a reading year, it would have to be growth. I read a total of 80 books, which is the most books I’ve read in a year since I started recording them in a spreadsheet in 2007. I read an average of almost 7 books a month and doubled the number of new authors I’ve read from 15 in 2009 to 30 in 2010. I reread 11 books and have 201 books in my TBR.
My best reading month was December with 12 books, and 3 books makes February my worst reading month. I began 2010 with Salvation in Death by JD Robb and ended the year with Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz.
Genres
The numbers are a bit funny, partly because quite a few of my books cross genres (e.g. some of my paranormal reads were also YA, which is how I classified them).
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In a special RSVP event, Tara Moss came to Galaxy to sign copies of her newest book, The Blood Countess.
Tara was dressed in head-to-toe toe black with no visible sign (to my eye at least) of her baby bump. She accessorised with black nails, a black head band, black fingerless lace gloves, a long, beskulled necklace, blingy skull earrings from Vivienne Westwood and tall black heels.
I arrived in time for questions, but we didn’t have many and I suspect that many of us (and I’m including myself as well) haven’t read the book yet. Someone asked about the shopkeeper character and Tara hedged and tried not to give too much away. She said he’s a lovely shopkeeper and some characters appear in the books that we may see play a bigger part later.
Tara was asked how many books she has planned for the series and she said that it’s open ended. She’s happy to keep writing them as long as people enjoy reading them and she won’t have any problems writing more books.
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