Review - Fury’s Kiss (Dorina Basarab, Book 3) by Karen Chance (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 544 pages
Publisher: Signet Select
Release Date: October 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0451413239
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Dorina Basarab series
Source: Borrowed through Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the third book in the Dorina Basarab series. I have really enjoyed the previous books in this series. I also read the first three books in the Cassie Palmer series, but stopped because I didn’t enjoy them as much. This was an excellent and action packed book, but at times I got a bit lost in the politics...let’s face it it’s been a really long time since the second book in this series released.

Dory is working with the Vampire Senate on uncovering a smuggling ring that’s smuggling goods into our world from Fairy. At the beginning of the book she wakes up in a cage in a lab in full rage mode; luckily Louis-Cesare is there to fight her until she realizes she’s been rescued. Dory has to unravel the mystery of what is going on, despite her huge gaps in memory.

This book saw a lot of character growth for a lot of characters. Dory learns a ton about her past. Her and Louis-Cesare definitely heat things up a bit. I have to admit I loved this...I’ve been rooting for Dory and Louis-Cesare right from the beginning and am so excited to see them making some headway in their relationship.

Additionally Mircea is in this book a ton as well. A lot is uncovered about Mircea and Dory and their father/daughter history. Both make huge leaps in character growth in this book as well. It was wonderful to see Mircea and Dory start to have a true family relationship; some truly needed balance was brought into Dory’s life for once.

Dory is one of my favorite urban fantasy heroines. She can be hilariously funny and there were a number of scenes in this book that had me laughing out loud. She is known for her dhampir rages that turn her into a killing machine that all vampires fear. We get to experience some of those rages in this book. Dory is also incredibly loyal and always very concerned about hurting those she loves. Oh, I should mention that she can totally kick-butt too.

The action scenes in this book are plentiful and incredibly well done. That’s part of what I love so much about this series. Lots of guns, and lots of kick-butt fighting scenes.

We get a good glimpse into Dory’s home life as well which has become increasingly complicated. We also find out that Radu is claiming that Dory is his master; he is hilarious as well and added a lot to the story.

The book is engaging, fast-paced and very well written. My only complaint is that I got a bit lost in all the vamp politics at times. It has just been so long since the second book was released, I was having trouble remembering who everyone was and what their angle was.

Overall an excellent addition to this series. We learn a ton about Dory’s past and see a lot of character growth between Dory and her father Mircea, we also see a lot of growth between Dory and Louis-Cesare. This book is action packed, at times hilarious, and full of excellent mystery. This whole series is highly recommended to those who love urban fantasy. I am eager to see what happens next and am hoping we don’t have to wait years in between books this time!

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

Review - Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, Book 6) by Richelle Mead (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Size:  594 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: December 7th, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1595143068
Stand Alone or Series: Book 6 (final book) in Vampire Academy series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the sixth, and final, book in the Vampire Academy series by  Mead.  Mead has stated that while there will be spin-off books of this series, no more books will tell Rose's story.  This was an excellent conclusion to the series, if a bit predictable at times.  I can say I was thoroughly pleased with the way everything is wrapped up.

This book starts with Rose in prison for killing the Moroi queen.  She is quickly sprung from jail by her friends and Dimitri; Dimitri, Rose, and Sydney go off on a mission to find Lissa's lost family member and to try and clear Rose's name.  Meanwhile back at court Lissa is also struggling to clear Rose's name while opposing some of the harsh measures the Council has forced on the dhampirs.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the series and I was pretty happy with it.  The story is mainly told from Rose's point of view, although she spends plenty of time in Lissa's head so you can stay on top of what is happening back at court.  Rose and Dimitri spend a lot of time together so there were lots of wonderful scenes featuring the two of them.  All of the little bits of plot come together nicely in the end.

The book moves along at a good pace and is never boring; I whizzed through this almost 600 page book and had trouble putting it down.  Mead has a wonderful writing style it is engaging, easy to read, and sounds very natural.

I have a couple small quibbles.  The things that went on in this book were a bit too predictable.  Basically everything happens exactly how you think it will (except for one item at the end).   On one hand this was nice because none of the characters got beat up too much, on the other hand I would have liked to see more surprising twists and turns.  The other complaint is that there are a lot of things left hanging, not with Rose's story, but with others.  So, you can definitely tell that this is being planned for spin-off series.  Adrian, Sydney, and Jill in particular have huge unresolved issues at the end of this book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it did a great job bringing this fabulous series to a close.  I really enjoy Mead's writing and am excited to see what she comes up with next.  I was a bit disappointed that this book was so predictable and left a lot of the other characters hanging.  Still that didn't detract much from what a wonderful book this was and how nicely it wrapped up Rose's story.

Review - Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab, Book 2) by Karen Chance (5/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Dorina Basarab series by Karen Chance. The third book is as yet un-named and is due out sometime in 2011.  This was an excellent installment in the series; I thoroughly enjoyed it and had trouble putting it down.

Dorina's friend and roommate, Claire, returns from fairy with her baby son.  Claire and her son are being hunted by a fairy clan that wants to kill her son so that he can't inherit the throne; Claire is trying to hunt down a family amulet that was supposed to protect her son but was stolen.  Dorina vows to help Claire.  On the side Dorina has been accepting jobs from her vampire father Mircea to hunt down rogue vampires or vampires who are breaking the law.  As Dorina gets deeper into the mess she finds that Claire's rune and Mircea's rogues may be connected.  Into the fray steps Louis-Cesare; the steamy vampire from the first book, he is still trying to protect his old Mistress Christine and gets wound up in the whole mess in an effort to get Christine back.

This book has a complex plot and non-stop action.  I really enjoyed it.  The world is creative, complex, engaging, and incredibly intriguing.  Chance effortlessly throws in mythology, faerie, and vampires together to create a wonderful world.

I love Dory as a main character; she is so tough and capable yet has a lot of emotional stuff she has to put up with throughout this book.  It was also great to have Claire added to the story; the transformations she has undergone in fairy are interesting and I can't wait to read more about her; maybe she will have her own series in the future.  Then there is Louis-Cesare; he is just everything you could ever want a male vampire to be...brooding, dark, sexy and loyal to a fault with a sardonic sense of humor to top it off.

All of the characters have complex pasts and interesting personalities.  The dialogue is witty and funny and flows really well.  There were a number of snarky comments from Dory or Louis-Cesare that had me laughing out loud.  Overall this book was a seriously fun romp, that touched on a variety of deep emotional issues for the characters, and capitulated you through a ton of action.

I loved it, loved it, loved it.  Absolutely can't wait to read more about Dory she is just so much fun.  This book wrapped up the final story nicely, but there is still room to resolve some additional issues.  There was some mention about Cassie (I read the first two Cassie books but just couldn't get into them), I kind of felt that maybe I was missing something there because I haven't read the more recent Cassie Palmer books.

I think you could read this book as a stand alone but if you did you'd be missing out on a lot of Dory's history.

Overall a wonderful addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one.  These books are making me think that maybe I should go back and read the rest of the Cassie Palmer series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenge:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Review - Midnight's Daughter (Dorina Basarab, Book 1) by Karen Chance (4/5 stars)

Prior to reading this book I had read the first two books in Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer series and I just couldn't get into them. I didn't like Cassie much as a character and didn't enjoy the mafia-like vampire setting.  When I heard that Chance was coming out with a series that was more urban fantasy and action focused I was excited to give it a try.  So far there are two books in this series "Death's Mistress" is the second one.  A third book is scheduled for 2011, but I couldn't find info on how many total books are planned for the series.  Anyway, I really liked this series much more than the Cassie Palmer series.

Dorina is a dhampir and her vampire father needs her help.  He needs her to hunt down her uncle Dracula (yes, THE Dracula) in return he will help Dory find her friend who is missing. A rather arrogant, devastatingly handsome, and irritating vampire named Louis-Cesare is sent along to assist Dory.  Along the way Dory will encounter some deadly fae, black mages, and an even more mysterious Fae power figure.  Hopefully Dory can manage to fight her blackout rages that are the hallmark of a dhampir and make it through to her final goal.

I enjoyed this book.  The action is non-stop and Dory's world holds a number of interesting surprises for the reader.  The reader is not slowly introduced to this world but thrown right in the middle of it.  Mostly this is a lot of fun, but at points I wished some of the creatures were explained a bit better.  The world is intriguing and complex and Chance does a great job of seamlessly (and casually) throwing major mythological figures into the mix; this makes the things Dory encounters interesting and fun.

Dory herself is a tough as nails dhampir who's seen a lot.  Over and over she takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  Of course she is a bit of an outcast, so that adds some darkness to her character.  I liked her practical outlook on things and her will to never fail.  She is also a bit snarky and funny.  Her and Louis-Cesare have great chemistry together; and even LC (Louis-Cesare) is pretty funny at times...although he has more of the over-protective/darkly brooding male thing going on.

There are a lot of other interesting characters and they all seem to have interesting depths of power that are not fully explored in this book.  I really enjoyed reading about them all.

Chance's writing style is not my favorite, but it is readable and engaging.  At times it is a bit lacking on description for me; but she does good fight scenes.  The ending wrapped the story up nicely and set up the story for the next book.  I love it when my stories are nicely wrapped up.

Overall this was a book I enjoyed much more than the Cassandra Palmer books.  It is definitely more of an urban fantasy than a paranormal romance; although there are a couple steamy scenes.  I am happy I read it and look forward to reading the next book, Death's Mistress.  Off the top of my head I can think of two series that I would recommend over this one.  I liked Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series and Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series better than this one.  But this series is better than a lot of other ones I have read too.  I think this series could get much more interesting in the future books. 

This book goes towards the following challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge