Release Date: 13/05/14
Publisher: Orbit
SYNOPSIS:
Every vampire has heard rumours of the mythical place where their kind can daywalk. But what no vampire knows is that this City of Eternal Night actually exists. And its name is New Orleans. For centuries, the fae have protected the city from vampire infestation. But when the bloodsuckers return, the fragile peace in New Orleans begins to crumble. Carefree playboy Augustine, and Harlow, a woman searching for answers about her absent father, are dragged into the war. The fate of the city rests on them - and the responsibilities their fae blood brings can no longer be denied.
REVIEW:
I’m a person who loves to lose myself in urban fantasy. I love the way that the impossible can happen and when the reader is given a story that not only strikes the imagination but gives you a chance to know an area within the real world that has the fantastical about it.
What Kristen does well is give the reader a story that is full of imagination, has some solid twists which when added to good prose generates a book that has a lot going for it which when added to a principle character like Augustine really polishes the work within. Yet for all that, I really hated spending time with Harlow, reading the pieces around her really was a struggle and whilst she changed within the title, it felt like a little too late to save her for me. I kept expecting her to change back to the original without much prompting.
All round it is a solid enough book and whilst I disliked one particular character I will be more than willing to see what occurs with the second outing.
Release Date: 01/11/12
SYNOPSIS:
After nearly dying Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a Comarre and grasp hold of some normality. Until a new task is brought to her doorstep: rescue the child kidnapped by her rival Tatiana, or her vampire boyfriend, Mal, becomes enemy number one. But before Chrysabelle can begin that mission, the mayor declares a curfew in Paradise City to control its othernatural population. A close friend gets caught and when Mal gets in over his head, Chrysabelle runs to his rescue and unwittingly unleashes a power that's lain dormant in him for centuries ...
REVIEW:
OK, you want an Urban Fantasy series that brings lovingly created characters, great dialogue and a series that has a huge scope to allow the otherworld in. So what are you going to do?
Well for me, I’d suggest trying this cracking series from Kristen. The characters are fully rounded, they breath and have their own agenda’s which when added to the success of what has gone before really allows the reader to really live within the authors world.
Add to this some wonderful prose, great twists which when added to the authors ability to bring you in, really makes this her best book to date. Great stuff.
Release Date: 06/10/11
SYNOPSIS:
With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle's life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She's vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who's trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organisation designed to protect mankind - the Kubai Mata. And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what's left of her life will never be the same.
REVIEW:
The second book in the House of Comarre series and one that will enhance the authors reputation with the way that she weaves her eldritch spell upon the reader. The principle character is complex with emotions running sway with what many would deam common sense, the choices have far reaching outcomes and when added together with a fast moving plot as well as the authors own writing style, it’s a title that won’t let go.
Add to this some great prose, a passion within where love and treachery go hand in hand alongside a whole host of new problems that require solutions and it was more than satisfactory for this reader.
Release Date: 15/09/11
SYNOPSIS:
Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarre - a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility and control their hungers. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the darkness of the mortal world ...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks. Chrysabelle's secrets, though, are about to put her life - and those around her - in even greater jeopardy. She possesses a powerful ring, the key to unlocking an ancient prophecy destined to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. A chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen threatens to reign unless she and Malkolm can stop the noble vampire behind the merciless plot.
REVIEW:
Whilst Kirsten is perhaps better known for her Romance titles from various E-Publishers, I get the feeling that this series, acquired by Orbit in the UK, is going to be the one to launch her to the reader market as a whole. It has decent pace, a dark world setting and when added to the authors own clever prose as well as dialogue makes this the start of a very interesting series.
As with other books in the genre it has vampires, ghosts, her own equivalent of a Were as well as developing other aspects but for me, it’s the characters that are key to driving the title forward as this gang of racial misfits fight their own battles to come out stronger as a whole. It’s clever, it has plenty of twists and when added to a bigger picture hinted under the subtext, it’s a series that I think will surprise more than a few readers. Watch out for books two and three in the coming months.
