Joint Review: Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Hi guys!

Today, I´ve got something special for you. Together with Anna from Books Brighten Your Mood, I´ve planned a joint review of Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost. Before we start with the review though, I´d like to introduce you to Anna. I met her through the Blog Hop, we started chatting and somehow, we ended up with the idea of a joint review. This is one of the most fun things I´ve done so far in my addmitedly short blogger life. Thank you so much, Anna! We did a little Q&A to introduce ourselves, below is mine with Anna, and if you check out her blog, you can read what I had to say (we found out some quite funny coincidences about us as well! The world really is a small place! We didn´t know what the other one would anwers to the question, I swear!).

Now meet Anna!


Where are you from?
I was born in Volos,a city somewhere in central Greece but for the last 4 years I'm living in Athens with my fiance and i have to admit these are the best years of my life!

Where do you work?
I've finished studying psychology last year and since then i'm trying to find a job!

What do you like to do in your free time?
Well, obviously I read a lot,but apart from that I like hanging out with my friends,watching movies or tv series and from times to times i totally spent entire days playing Sims!!!

When did you start blogging?
I'm really new in this wonderful world!I started running my blog in July and to be honest i'm still learning how things work,but i love it!I love meeting all those people from different countries that share the same passion with me for books!


What's your favourite book?
That's a really difficult question cause depending the genre and age i read a book,there are many books i really love.But if i should pick one book that really touched me that would be Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.I may read totally different genres of books right now,but this book is always in my heart.

Where do you like to read?
My bed!!!I like to be comfortable when reading my book and i can't fall asleep if i won't read even a single page!


And now to our fabulous review!

Title: Eternal Kiss Of Darkness
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Published: July 27th 2010 by Avon
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness…and now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master Vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful…human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life, yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose between the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.


Our thoughts on the characters:

Anna:
I loved Kira!!!She is one of my favourite leading characters!I loved how strong she was,independent and caring.I loved the way she proceeded with her life no matter how bad things were and all in all i thought that she was a really well written character.Frost really does a good job when she's delivering a new character and its past.I love the way she presents her characters in every book she's written and she doesn't fail in this one either!
Mencheres on the other hand... Ok,i have to admit it wasn't one of my favourite characters to begin with and at least for me,he failed to deliver the whole sexy,bad style other male heroes have in this series.He's a well written character nonetheless,and Frost gives us an insight in the psychology of a man who's lived more than 4000 years and surely Mencheres is a noble man,but sexy...?I just couldn't see him that way.

Christine:
I have to agree with Anna here, sexy is definetly not the first thing that pops into my mind when I think about Mencheres (maybe it was his hair, well past his chest is a bit too much for me). I also found his change from a man who is tired of being alive or rather undead to a man who is madly in love just a bit too rushed. I know that it has to fit into one book, but somehow, it was hust too head over heels for me. What I really liked however was that Jeaniene Frost didn´t make him the typical über-alpha vampire male but someone who feels the weight of his past and all the things he has seen on his shoulders and is honest enough to feel shame over some things he has done instead of trying to excuse them.
Kire grew very fast on me. As I´ve mentioned before, I´m a sucker for charaters who know the values of family. So it´s no surprise that I liked very much how Kira cared about her sister even to the point of giving up her personal freedom to save her sister. I also appreciate it that the romance between Kira and Mencheres really starts after he has kidnapped her, because everything else would be too (as Kira herself called it) Stockholm Syndrom). In addition, even though Mencheres is incredibly powerful as a vampire, Kira is very strong in her own way, be it in self-restraint after becoming a vampire or as a character altogether. In my opinion, they are a quite well-matched pair.
As from this book on, I also join the “Give-Vlad-His-Own-Book Club”. He is simply awesome. Enough said. :)

All about the plot:

Anna:
The plot here was a bit slow for my taste.The romance didn't grab me as it usually happens with Frost's other books and that was mostly due to two reasons:firstly,as i said Mencheres wasn't my sexy kind of guy,so i couldn't imagine him as a woman's wet dream and secondly the sex scenes lacked a certain spark.
The action scenes,again,just weren't enough.Surely,since Mencheres was so strong a vampire and could kill anyone with his mind's power only,there wasn't the need for any scenes with stakes and punches,but well,i missed them!
To sum it up,although i liked this book,it just didn't grab me and make me wanna finish it in a day.

Christine:
As a criticism to this book, one could say that it´s the basical “girl meets vampire and falls in love and they live happily ever after against all odds” story, but to be honest. We all knew about that before we read it. At least I did and in my opinion, there are far worse stories of that kind. Jeaniene Frost mixes action and romance in a way that it is well balanced, eventhough the story did not keep me glued to the pages. Other than Anna, at least I enjoyed the bathtub scene (which seems to become a more and more common place for dirty business). Give mee a sexy man in a warm tub and I´m sure I could think of something as well! :)
One thing however was a little predictable for me: the whole solution to Mencheres problem of seeing darkness instead of any visions. After mentioning what Kira´s name meant, the meaning of his vision became quite obvious.

And in comparision to Jeaniene Frost´s other books?

Anna:
As it's obvious from the things i said previously,this book,although i liked it,was my least favourite in the series...It had less action packed scenes even from First Drop of Crimson and the romance didn't catch my attention.Although,the strong point of this book was his main heroine.Kira isn't Cat,which is a good thing,but she was so well developed as a character that after a few pages i felt that i already knew her from previous books.Mencheres wasn't as sexy as Bones or Spade but he had other qualities.He was noble and more caring than Spade,at least those aspects of him were presented in more details.I don't want to compare Mencheres with Bones...Bones is one my favourite male characters and no matter how better Mencheres might be i'd just failed to see it!

Christine:
First of all, let me say that I read my last Cat and Bones book (which was book two I guess) about one and a half year ago and I´ve read an estimated ton of books ever since so my memories about the books are not as detailed as they should be for doing this I guess. That very fact is now something between a blessing and a curse.
I seem to have missed a huge part of the story like the events regarding Mencheres´ wife, her inpact on Cat and Bones´s life and their wedding, on the other hand, it allows me to see this book more as one of its own. I have to agree with Anna that I also preferred Cat´s stories, her personality and, well... Bones, but as I mentioned before, there are far worse “girl meets vampire” books out there. Standing alone, Eternal Kiss of Darkness is an entertaining and romantic read that´s stands apart from others due to his more balanced and equal pair of characters.
I really enjoyed the appearance of Cat and Bones in this book (there could even have been more of them) and Eternal Kiss of Darkness has made me want to catch up with Cat and Bones after book two. It lacked however the certain spark in comparision to, for example Halfway to the Grave.

And now our favorite scenes:

Anna:
When Kira meets Vlad!!!I've said in previous reviews that i absolutely love Vlad!When he made his appearance at the book,a smile instantly spread on my face!Is it too much to ask for a book with Vlad???

Christine:
Hmm... let me think. I guess I´ll go for Kira´s egg practicing scene, because it shows her determination and self-control I find very admiring. I also had to laugh for a moment when the secret hide-out place turned out to be Disneyland. I almost suspected to see some vampire verison of Minnie Mouse. :)

And finally: our verdict

We both independetly gave four stars/points to Eternal Kiss of Darkness. Anna didnßt like it as much as Cat´s books, but still enjoyed it. As for myself: It wasn´t one of the best books I read in the last few moths, but I certainly enjoyed reading it and it made me want to read the two books of Cats and Bones´s story I´ve missed.

Review: Fire Burn & Cauldron Bubble

 

Title: Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
Author: H.P. Mallory
Published: July 2nd 2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy

A self-deprecating witch with the unique ability to reanimate the dead. A dangerously handsome warlock torn between being her boss and her would-be lover. A six hundred year old English vampire with his own agenda; one that includes an appetite for witches. The Underworld in a state of chaos. Let the games begin.
Life isn’t bad for psychic Jolie Wilkins. True, she doesn’t have a love life to speak of, but she has a cute house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a cat and a quirky best friend.
Enter Rand Balfour, a sinfully attractive warlock who insists she’s a witch and who just might turn her life upside down. Rand hires her to help him solve a mystery regarding the death of his client who also happens to be a ghost. Jolie not only uncovers the cause of the ghost’s demise but, in the process, she brings him back to life!
Word of Jolie’s incredible ability to bring back the dead spreads like wildfire, putting her at the top of the Underworld’s most wanted list. Consequently, she finds herself at the center of a custody battle between a villainous witch, a dangerous but oh-so-sexy vampire, and her warlock boss, Rand.

 

I read “Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble” after a few book of Dark Urban Fantasy and to be honest, it really enjoyed the lighter note of it.

Jolie is a psychic who has no idea that she is actually a witch. Together with her cat and her best friend she leads a relatively quiet life. Okay, she doesn´t have a boyfriend, but so what. All that changes when one day smoking hot Rand walks into her life. Not only does she meet the very first ghost in her life, she also discovers she has very extraordinary powers. From now on, ghosts are the most normal things she will encounter.

Jolie is is a very down to earth character who sometimes has to struggle with all the changes in her life and sometimes seems to be a bot overwhelmed by it. However, she never gives up or is whiny as other characters. Christa, her beautiful, flirty and fun-loving best friend is on her side. Rand, the male lead character is everything you wish for: atrractive, mysterious and powerful, yet still caring and charming whenever he is alone with Jolie. There are some really hot and steamy scenes between those two.

The story picks up the pace quite fast and you´ll never have a dull moment reading it. Jolie finds herself in the middle of the powerstruggle of a supernatural society whose rules Jolie doesn´t know. Throughout the book, you´ll never know whom to trust. Throw in another sexy and recently brought-back-to-life werewolf and you´ll get a picture if the chaos Jolie´s life and love-life is.

I really enjoyed the worldbuiling in this book. Other than most of the other Urban Fantasy books, H.P. Mallory has chosen England as the main location. Pelham Manor, Rand´s house was described with very much love for deteils and atmosphere and I could really picture the splendid manor with all its beauty and luxury. The supernatural society is inhabited with creatures like weres, ghosts, vampires and fairies. The schemes and powerstruggle guarantee for a lot of action and excitment and Christa sightly ADD-like behaviour adds light and funny moments.

The writing is really good and just right for the story. H.P. Mallory finds the right balance of action, humor, romance and sexy scenes to guarantee for a thoroughly entertaining read. The end leaves a lot open for the next book in the series.

Favourite scenes: I really loved the scenes with King Odran and his Fairy court. He has a very unsual and blunt charm I found very refreshing and amusing. Sinjin, the mysterious and sexy vampire adds further spice to this book.

If you´re looking for a funny light and sexy read for your summer, then Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble is exactly the book.

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble gets 4 out of 5 points from me!

Review "Kitty goes to War"

Title: Kitty Goes to War (Kitty Norville, #8)
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: June 29th 2010 by Tor Books (first published June 22nd 2010)


Kitty Norville, werewolf radio call-in show host, gets a call from an old friend at the NIH’s Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology, a friend ...more Kitty Norville, werewolf radio call-in show host, gets a call from an old friend at the NIH’s Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology, a friend with a problem, who doesn’t know where else to turn. Three Army soldiers who have recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are in custody at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs. They’re also werewolves suffering from post traumatic stress, unable to control their shape-shifting, unable to interact with people. Kitty agrees to see them, curious and wanting to help. Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for slander after featuring Speedy Mart—a chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting the supernatural—on her show, and an old friend-and-adversary has just been released from jail.

*This review might contain spoilers!*

The Kitty Norville series was one of the first series I started reading after the Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson series. I really liked all the previous books in the series so I was really excited about this one.

The book starts a while after the events of the last books, right in the middle of one of Kitty´s radio shows. The story picks up the pace very fast, as the events of one major plots start right then and there. The show is about Speedy Mart and Kitty is collecting evidence for suspicious supernatural activities there. The other plot involving the werewolf soldiers starts soon after.

The good thing about this book is that you get to see Kitty, Ben and Cormac finally together again. As a declared Cormac fan, I was very happy to see him more often in this book. But it´s not the Cormac we know, the one he was before going to jail. Something has changed him, and we have to wait right until the end of the book what exactly is responsible for his change. His return is definetly one of the best things about this book.
Kitty and Ben are once again great together. She still tries to prove that no one, not even totally out of control werewolves are beyond saving and redemption.
Kitty genuinly cares about the soldiers, even though they are not part of her pack.
Ben is as always the steady rock behind her. Regardless of his own opinion or even whether if it´s illegal ir not, he still supports her. Who wouldn´t want to have a boyfriend like that? This book is less focused on their romance which is however a postitive thing, at least for me. All of us who have read the previous books know that they love each other. The two plots in this book are enough as it is, so steamy romance and sex would kind of be out of place.
Still, there was something that was bugging me, I just felt like the events of the last book should have had a greater impact on Kitty. It was mentioned a few times how she felt she was paranoid, but after all the bloodshed and gore of the last book, it should have affected her more than that. But maybe that´s just me.
I really liked the idea behind the werewolf soldiers and the post-traumatic stress disorder and I would have liked to read more about it. It was a good opportunity to show Kitty´s caring nature and character, which makes her in my opinion such a great alpha for her pack.
The ending is kind of bittersweet: both cases are -so to speak- closed and we get to know what´s going on with Cormac. There is no happy end for the wsoldiers, at least not all of them, but I guess it´s better that way. I guess it just shows that there are things in life you can´t get over.
All in all, I had a really tough time writing this review. I liked the characters of this series and the story was good as well: it was fast paced, never dull and the message behind the army werewolf story is definetly important. But that´s just it: I guess I could have been even better. It´s a bit of a shame that I read some of the best books so far this year right before "Kitty Goes to War", because without them, I would have probably liked it even more. As it is, books like "Unholy Magic" are kind of the standart other books ahve to live up to and that´s pretty hard to say the least.

As it is, "Kitty Goes to War" is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 points for me, but considering how much I like this series and the characters, it´s 4 points.

Review "Mind Games"

Title: Mind Games, (The Disillusionists Trilogy, #1)
Author: Carolyn Crane
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: March 23rd 2010 by Spectra

JUSTINE KNOWS SHE’S GOING TO DIE. ANY SECOND NOW.

Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.

Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

"Mind Games" is a very extraordinary book. First of all, I don´t even know if it´s just Urban Fantasy. It has also a comic book flair with a little touch of crime fighting superheroes. It is set in Midcity, a city that suffers from a brutal crime wave. People are terrorized by criminals like the Brick Slinger who drops bricks on his unsuspecting victims. The authorities, most of all Police Chief Otto Sanchez, are fighting an uphill battle.

Justine Jones, the main character of this book is hypochondriac and she knows it. She lives in the constant fear that she might die of the vein star syndrom, just like her mother did. She wishes nothing more than to be free of her fear and lead a normal life. A life she so desperatly tries to have with Cubby, her good-looking, very normal and very lucky All-American boyfriend. But when a panic attack hits her, there is little she can do. Neither Cubby´s attemps to convince her with sheer logic nor the regular visits to the ER can convince Justine that she´s not sick.
For the reader, these panic attacks are strangely entertaining, as Carolyn Crane writes them with a certain dark and absurd humor that just takes you by surprise. But it´s also that vulnerability combined with her undying trust in Chief Sanchez and her wish for everybody to be free of fear that endears Justine so much to the reader.

One day however, Justine and her boyfriend are at a restaurant and she meets Sterling Packard and his team. Packard is a highcap (people who have extraordinary powers due to a hightened brain power), he can see the psychological structure of anybody and instantly knows their weakness. He has put together a team of "misfits", people who suffer just like Justine from different neuroses, such as despression, extreme rage or even more serious conditions like gambling and alcoholism. Together, the are paid to disillusion certain targets by attacking them psychologically, exploit their weaknesses and make them loose everything. After that they "reboot" and try to make up for their past life of crimes.
Packard asks Justine to join the team and is thus offering her a way out of her fear. The only thing she has to do to help disillusion someone is channel her fear into the target.
At first, Justine declines, but after having tested "zinging" and enjoyed a few days without fear, she wavers. She knows it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of her fear, yet she dislikes th idea of vigilantism.
Yet, Packard is a very charismatic man and Justine and Packard share an instant connection. He is dark, wild and mysterious, quite the opposite of her boyfriend Cubby. So, reluctantly, Justine agrees to join the team. Between training and her very first target, she gets to know the other members of the group and for the first time ever, she actually bonds with people who are exactly like her. Ever so slightly, Justine begins to change. She quits her old job and starts lying to Cubby, as she is not allowed to tell him about her "secret new job". More and more, this whole situation begins to put a strain on their relationship. With every bit she drifts away from Cubby, she is pulled to Packard.
Then however, Justine finds out that Packard is trapped in his restaurant Mongolian Delights by any unknown mysterious nemesis. As she sets out to help him get free, she discovers more than she wants and finds herself in a web of lies and dependencies that not only threatens her life but the entire city.

"Mind Games" is split in different parts. In the first part, you get to know Justine and her hypochondria, meet Packard and his team and get a feeling for the world this story is set in. It sometimes even made me laugh, because of some very bizarre, yet frightingly realistic descriptions of Justine´s panic attacks and the odd conversations among the members of the team.
The second part starts with Justine´s first assignment and the descriptions of how the teams works. Justine changes, both revels in her new life without fear and fights with her conscience, questioning if shifting her fears to other people is really the right thing to do.
It is the very last part however that makes this book very special. In their search for the nemesis, Justine and her newfound friends uncover some secrets of Packard´s past that could change everything. Unsure of whome to trust, Justine takes matters in her own hands and sees to a surprising end that noone else could have achieved.

The main characters in this book are multilayered, complex and likeable. They are also deeply flawed. I liked the idea how the weaknesses of them turned into their strengths and are used as a force of good.

The story is expertly told with just the right amount of pace, action and suspense. The very end had me all hooked up and I really wanted to know how everything would turn out.

Carolyn Crane has proven with this book that Urban Fantasy doesn´t need werewolves, vampires or the other usual suspects to be a great read. Highcaps and neurotics make for a just as intruiging, gripping and smart story.

I can only recomend this extraordinary book to all readers and lovers of the Urban Fantasy genre.

4 out of 5 Points

If you want more of Carolyn Crane now, go visit her homepage, where you can find the first chapter of Mind Games online, along with other interesting stuff about Midicty like the Midcitiy Eagle, Midcitiy´s most trusted newspaper. You can also visit her blog.

"Mind Games" ist the first book in a trilogy, with the next in series, "Double Cross" to be released on September 28th 2010.