Review - Out for Blood (House of Comarre, Book 4) by Kristen Painter (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 480 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: October 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316200172
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the House of Comarre series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the fourth book in the House of Comarre series by Painter. The fifth (and final) book will be titled, Last Blood, and is scheduled for a Spring 2013 release. I enjoyed this book, it is again told from a billion points of view, but it worked better for this book than the last one.

This book picks up with Chrysabelle recovering from her ordeals in the last book. She is trying to figure out what the Ring of Sorrows has done to her since it was melted into her skin. Meanwhile Titania is presenting her new vampire baby to the masses. Lola is trying to find someone to turn her into a vampire so she can rescue her granddaughter (the above mentioned vampire baby). Lola is also wreaking havoc with Paradise city in general. Lastly Doc is taking over the local shapeshifter pack and finds the position comes with a wife, which really pisses off Fi.

Does the above sound like a strange paranormal soap opera? Well that’s pretty much what this book is. This book picks up where the last left off. It uses uses a ton of POVs to tell the story. We hear from Creek, Crysabelle, Mel, Doc, Fi, Lola (the mayor), and Titania. This works pretty well for the this book and the flow wasn't too choppy because of it. Still, I liked the first couple books where the main POVs were Crysabelle and Mel much better.

We hear a lot from Titania and Lola in this book and I really don't enjoy either of them much as characters. Both of them are short sighted and selfish. Crysabelle continues to have a blind spot where Mel is concerned and their relationship progresses very slowly, but it does make some progress. Mel is a bit of a weenie, I constantly want him to stand up for himself better against Crysabelle.

There are a lot of storylines going on here. Overall I enjoyed some of the developments in this book. I also enjoyed the way the storyline behind Mel's curse and the Ring of Sorrows is developing. I am curious as to where the plot with Lilith the vampire baby is going as well. The only disappointing thing is that even with a good length book the story progress slowly because of all the viewpoints.

Despite all the POVs, the writing is well done and easy to read. The book was engaging and hard to put down. I plan on reading the final book in the series for sure

Overall a solid addition to this series, if not as good as the first two books. We hear a lot from Titania and Lola and they just aren’t my favorite characters. Mel and Crysabelle take a backseat to everything else that is going on. There isn’t a ton of action in this book either, it is pretty much a paranormal soap opera. The story also suffers from slow progression because of the multiple POVs. Despite all of the above, I still enjoyed the book and found it to be well written and engaging. Recommended to fans of paranormal books.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- VAMPIRES: Paranormal Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Review - Bad Blood (House of Comarre, Book 3) by Kristen Painter (3.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 448 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: December 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0316084758
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book is the House of Comarre series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This is the third book in the House of Comarre series by Painter. It was a well done book and was full of excellent characters, an engaging world, and a storyline that is getting a bit too epic. My main complaint with this book would be the constantly expanding number of viewpoints that the story is told from.

Chrysabelle is recovering from her debilitating injuries which she incurred in the last book. She wants to recover as soon as possibly to start the hunt for her brother. Her quest to do this leads her to a number of sidequests that all stem from needing to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Titania is trying to regroup from her losses in the last book and is building herself both an empire and a family. Doc is dealing with a lot of strange changes that happened to him when he went through the witch's smoke and broke his curse. In additional to all of this a number of strange events as well as the murder of fake comarres have been happening throughout the city; this is keeping both the police and the Kubai Mata on their toes.

I absolutely love this world and I also really enjoy the broad history involving the Kubai Mata, the Comarre and the other races. The plot expands exponentially in this book and broadens into a scope that is approaching epic. This is both good and bad.

The bad part is that we are hearing this from six or more viewpoints and this makes the story progress very slowly. Not to mention that we don't get to see as much of Chrysabelle and Mal as I would have liked. The viewpoints we hear from are: Chrysabelle, Doc, Mal, the Preacher, the Mayor, the witches, and Creek. There may be more viewpoints that I missed; I think we hear from the demon's point of view as well as from Doc's girlfriend. This is a lot of switching between characters. I like most of the characters, but I wish we could focus on just a couple. If we could just deal with the Chrysabelle/Mal storyline and the Doc/witches storyline that would be great. I didn't like the Mayor all that much and she was in a lot of the story. I think Titania is interesting as well, but didn't enjoy that so much of the story focused on her.

As in previous books Chrysabelle and Mal make some, but not much, progress in their relationship. They both seemed a bit tired and older in this book. Mal's curse was kind of shrugged to the side and given kind of a "well we'll deal with that later".

Sounds like I am complaining a lot...I guess I am. I really loved the first two books in this series and, although I still really enjoyed this book, is seemed kind of unfocused and all over the place. That being said I do love a lot of these characters, I love how the plot is broadening, and I love the world that is being created. The writing is well done and easy to read.

Overall this was a great book, but not as good as previous books in the series. There are a ton of viewpoints and 4 or 5 different story arcs going at once, this is fine...but it makes the story progress slowly and forced me to spend a lot of time reading about characters I didn't care about all that much. Chrysabelle and Mal have lost a lot of sparkle they had as a potential couple; they both seem tired and resigned throughout. I still love a lot of the characters and I love the world; but I felt like the story had lost focus and was trying to go in too many directions at once. This book was part urban fantasy, part epic fantasy, and part paranormal romance. I will definitely read the next book in the series, but I hope it is more focused than this one was.

Review - Flesh and Blood (House of Comarre, Book 2) by Kristen Painter (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 432 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: November 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0316084765
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in House of Comarre series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the House of Comarre series by Painter. This book tells the story from multiple viewpoints, while this broadens the story some it also takes away from time with the main characters. I enjoyed this book, it was about on par with the first one in my opinion.

Chrysabelle still owes Malkolm for his help in the first book, but is having trouble fulfilling that debt since she is not at all welcome in her home city. Meanwhile the villainous, Titania is trying to hunt down the Ring of Sorrows, and will stop at nothing to get this back. Thrown into the mix is Doc trying to help out his ghostly girlfriend and the appearance of a mysterious man named Creek who belongs to some strange secret society.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoy Chrysabelle and Malkolm as leads but was a bit disappointed that their characters didn't make more progress as a couple. Also in this book Painter throws in the mysterious Creek to create a sort of love triangle between Chrys, Mal, and Creek. I thought the love triangle was unnecessary and can only hope there was some greater reason behind this that will be revealed in later books.

The story in this book is a lot more fractured than the previous book. We hear from many different viewpoints: mainly from Chrysabelle's, Malkolm's, Doc's, and Titania's points of view. While I enjoyed that way that this broadened the story and allowed us to see into these characters' heads; it resulted in a storyline that was more fractured and moved forward much more slowly than the previous book. I constantly found myself skimming the parts from Titania or Doc's POV so that I could get back to reading more about Chrys and Mal.

Overall I liked the writing style and found it very readable. This was a book that's easy to read and engaging.

I enjoyed the action scenes, although again there weren't as many as in the first book. I also enjoyed the expansion of the world. The plot moved slower than I would have liked and I was surprised that there wasn't much resolution around the whole Ring of Sorrows plot. The book ends on a pretty big cliffhanger and doesn't have much resolution, so just a look out for people who hate that.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. I like Chrys and Mal as characters and there are some interesting side characters as well. The world is broadened in this book and some interesting twists happen in the story. Chrys and Mal don't make as much progress as a couple as I had hoped for though, and I thought that throwing in the mysterious Creed to create a love triangle between Chrys, Mal, and Creed was unnecessary and obnoxious. I also thought the constant switching of viewpoints caused the plot to move slower than it should have and fractured the story some; although it was interesting to hear from other characters in the story. I really enjoyed the writing style and the action scenes; but did not enjoy the cliffhanger ending. I will definitely be reading the third book because I need to know how everything ends! I recommend this book for fans of urban fantasy or paranormal romance types book; it falls somewhere between the two genres.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

Early Review - Blood Rights (House of Comarre, Book 1) by Kristen Painter (4.5 stars)

Reading level: Adult

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Size:  432 pages

Publisher: Orbit 

Release Date: September 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0316084772
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the House of Comarre series
Source: ARC from BEA
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the first book in the House of Comarre trilogy by Kristen Painter.  The second book, Flesh and Blood, is supposed to release in Nov of 2011.  The third book, Bad Blood, is scheduled to release a month later in December 2011.  This was a great book.  There are some very creative ideas in here and some great characters; it made for a wonderful and engaging story.

Chrysabelle has spent a hundred years serving as a Comarre to a high ranking vampire.  On the eve of her test to escape service by combat; her master is killed.  This leaves Chrysabelle free but she is also forced to flee since she is suspected of murdering her master.  Now Chrysabelle is forced to try and blend in with the human world until she can clear her name.  When Chrysabelle tries to get help she runs into Mal.  Mal is a royal vampire who has been declared anathema.  Mal and Chrysabelle don't get along well, but working together may be the only way they can both get what they want and clear Chrysabelle's name.

This was a very well done book.  The world created is interesting.  The book is set in the near future, 2060 I believe, most of the common things are recognizable but some of the technology has changed quite a bit.  With the futuristic setting the book ends up being a pleasant blend of sci-fi, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and mystery.

The most intriguing part of the society Chrysabelle comes from is the House of Comarre.  The House of Comarre has a lot of secrets, some you find out in this book but there is still a lot of mystery involving this group of individuals.  The whole idea behind the Comarre is fascinating even at face value, but when you find out about all the mystery behind this House it becomes an even more fascinating and engaging idea.

The book is very well written, easy to read, and moves at a quick pace.  The action scenes and romantic tension between characters is very well done. It was hard to put down and when I finished it I immediately wanted to read more.

The characters are wonderful; lots of mystery and dimension to all of them, even the side characters.  Chrysabelle and Mel make great leads; they have great tough personalities, yet are complex.  The banter between these two is wonderful and had me laughing out loud a few times.  The romance between them is sweet, steamy at times, but never graphic.  There are also a lot of relationships/romance going on between various side characters in this book; love seems to be a big driving force in the plot in general.

The mystery that Chrysabelle is trying to solve is set up nicely and very well done as well.  The result of the mystery totally surprised me; I love it when I can't predict where the story is going to end up.  The book ended at a good place; the main mystery is solved but Chrysabelle and friends will also have a bigger mystery to deal with in future books.

I also have to mention the cover, this has got to be one of the most stunning covers I have seen all year.  When I saw this cover I had to read the book.  I'd like a print of this cover to hang up in my house, it is just so darn beautiful.

Overall I really really enjoyed this book.  The world is very interesting and creative; the mystery behind the House of Comerre absolutely sucked me it.  The characters (even the side characters) are very engaging, likable, and fun to read about.  The book is well-written, well paced and easy to read.  I was really impressed with how Painter blends sci-fi, urban fantasy, romance, and mystery elements together to make an intriguing and engaging story.  Pretty much everything in this book was well-balanced.  There are some sensual scenes in the book but they never get too detailed or graphic, so older young adults could probably read this book (although the book is about adults, not sure about future books though).  I really look forward to reading Flesh and Blood, I can't wait to see what happens next...and I don't have to wait very long either!

I would recommend this book to those of you who like urban fantasy with some romance or paranormal romance books.  

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- The Debut Author Challenge