Review: Intereting concept, but it falls a little short
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 12, 2011
Blood of the Maple by Dana Marie Bell is a rather unique paranormal romance. I don't believe I have ever read a book centered around a dryad character before. The closest supernatural character that I can relate it to, would be a tree nymph. I have to give Bell kudos for creativity, especially with the two main characters. Not only is Amara unique, but Bell manages to creative an unconventional vampire with Parker.Parker Hollis is a vegetarian vampire; in the true sense of the word. He does not feed off of animal blood, he lives off of the "blood" of plants. This is initially what attracts him to Amara - her blood is literally plant blood.The book was a fun, quick read that had some interesting plot points. That being said, I did have a few problems with the execution. I thought the idea of the book was top -notch, but the characters really weren't fleshed out enough for my tastes. This made it difficult to care about the storyline, even though it was entertaining.The pacing of the relationship between Amara and Parker practically moved at warp-speed. They skipping right over the entire courting process - they dive right into the "madly-in-love" stage. I like my paranormal romances to have a little build-up, instead of the characters tumbling straight into bed. I know it's ultimately a romance book, but there are other ways of showing romance than sex. I am certainly not a prude, I don't mind sex in books, but I would have liked to see the two characters form a personal connection as well as a physical one.I thought that the idea of a supernatural community was quite interesting, but again, I did have an issue with it. It really bothered me how the community refused to accept Amara. I mean, come on, are you really telling me a town full of vampires, witches, ghosts, dryads and werewolves are going to point the "freak" finger? That doesn't fly well with me.All in all, Blood of the Maple had a lot of things going for it, but it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. This book is incredibly unique and the storyline is interesting, but it did not live up to my expectations. That being said, it was enjoyable and I will read the rest of the series, it just isn't one of my favorites.