Review: Repetitive, hypocritical and chock full of bad surprises!!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2013
I bit the lure when I got book 1 for free (of course nothing is ever free right!)and naturally the ending left me wanting more. My interest was piqued and I perused the author's selection, ecstatic that I won't have to wait for book 2. I read the excerpt and wasn't really interested. However, I decided to give it a chance and bought the book. I just finished reading it and felt compelled to write a review to express my disappointment.CONTAINS SPOILERS: Why disappointment? Well, the first book set the stage for the main characters, Lucinda and Michel, and their unique relationship. She being a vampire hunter, he a master vampire, she needing to bond with a vampire before her 25th birthday or face death, he benefiting from the relationship by gaining tremendous power bonding with a nosferaten, yet they had a relationship that was clearly defined. My first disappointment was that in this book, the relationship was more of the same. The same emotional wavering and thought process that was rampant in the first installment was carried over to this one. The relationship, in which they had already clearly professed their love for each other, seemed to be an afterthought, because yet again Lucinda was continually reminding us that Michel is a vampire and you can't trust a vampire, they're evil  etc. and on and on and the justifications for when she did actualize her feelings were 'eye rolling'. I felt impatient with her, like get over it already, you love him so move on. I thought that this story would introduce another facet to their relationship, a progression or something, but it didn't.I felt like the author didn't solidify who she wanted Michel to really be; therefore she wrote Lucinda to have an iffy moral code as she was happy to lock lips or be caught in compromising situations! Because we are continually reminded who Michel is, old powerful vampire master, who benefited from the bond between them yada yada, he was more of a caricature, and the times when he was hurt by her behaviour, it was glossed over in lieu of Lucinda's endless internal justification and shallow remorse. Lucinda's power was convenient and she seemed easily controlled, and very emotional. She seemed to be in lust with every male vampire (slight exaggeration), which of course, she didn't have any 'control' over and the connection and subsequent 'joining' of her to Gregor left me with a sick feeling. Michel was hurt, over and over but hey, he is a master vampire!! Don't get me wrong, I like Lucinda because at least, at times she was honest with herself and with Michel, and as the reader we are privy to her side of things, but she was also selfish and thoughtless and was controlled by lust.If the introduction of Gregor was supposed to spice things up, for me it failed. It made the story extremely one-sided, hypocritical and there was some double standard going on. I hated the imbalance of the 'playing field' especially because Lucinda was the one who really gained the most from her connection with Michel...her life!!! The twists and turns that the book introduced was not to my liking. The first book read like it was a one on one relationship and that was what I was vested in. Had I wanted to read a book where there is a triangle, I would have chosen one, and I felt betrayed with this book. Needless to say, I won't be reading any more!