Review: Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance

Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance

published by New American Library in October 2012

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. But so far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing...

Dory is used to fighting hard and nasty. So when she wakes up in a strange scientific lab with a strange man standing over her, her first instinct is to take his head off. Luckily, the man is actually the master vampire Louis-Cesare, so he’s not an easy kill.

It turns out that Dory had been working with a Vampire Senate task force on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie when she was captured and brought to the lab. But when Louis-Cesare rescues her, she has no memory of what happened to her.

To find out what was done to her—and who is behind it—Dory will have to face off with fallen angels, the maddest of mad scientists, and a new breed of vampires that are far worse than undead...

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dorina Basarab, Book #3

The Story: As usual, Ms Chance pens a complex story, so let see if I can write a coherent summary :)

Since the last book, Death's Mistress, Dory has been working for the Vampire Senate. During her last mission, she was sent out with the Senate task force to investigate on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie and into their world. However, something went utterly wrong and 11 first-level masters died; Dory the only survivor. Whatever happened definitively messed her up because during her rescue, she didn't even recognize her love interest, Louis-Cesare. Eventually, her memories came back, but not the ones from the ambush... In order to find out what happened, her father, Mircea, who has powerful mental abilities, needs to enter her mind and retrieve those memories... That is when Dory learns that this is not the first time Mircea has played with her mind. A very long time ago, because Dory was dying due to her vampire half over-powering her human-half, Mircea had to put a barrier in Dory's mind, separating her two consciousness... and this has cost Dory a  lot.

While trying to retrieve her memories, Mircea is attacked and injured. Obviously, something is happening... and it might just have to do with the ongoing challenges for seats on the North American Senate. It's therefore up to Dory with her unexpected allies to stop the conspiracy.

My Opinion: All right, so I tried my best with the summary - I hope it gives a clearer idea of the plot. Now, let's try for a coherent review :) Then again, it's going to be a short one as Ms Chance is a very consistent writer and whatever the strengths and weaknesses were in the first two books, Midnight's Daughter and Death's Mistress, they are the same in Fury's Kiss.

Once again, while reading Fury's Kiss, I LOLed so many times :P I enjoy the romance between Dory and Louis-Cesare because it is intense and he knows what he wants and what he wants is Dory and he's not taking a "no" for answers... However, that's not why I read this series. I read the Dorina Basarab series because of the mix of action and humor and seriously, nothing beats the interactions between Dory, Ray and Radu. It's simply sooo hilarious! LOL. Speaking of Ray, I'm really happy that Ms Chance decided to keep him in the cast and that his character is more than comedic relief. I liked how much insight Ray had on people and the vampire community, sometimes even more than Dory. Actually, when you think about it, Ray's character is very interesting... He's not as powerful as everyone and I think it gives him a different perspective... but despite not being as powerful and a bit of a coward, he still sticks to Dory's side. In truth, I'm looking forward to reading more about him :)

Aside from the humor, what I enjoyed in this installment is things are not stagnant. Things are happening, especially in regards to Dory and Mircea's father-daughter relationship. Theirs has always been strained, a carefully choreographed dance. Because of Mircea's position and personality, Dory always thought that her father didn't really care about her and wanted to manipulate her more,  but I always had the feeling she was wrong... and I was right :) I loved the memory of Dory and Mircea in Venice and Dory finally knowing the truth. I'm really glad that Ms Chance expanded on this part of the story and did not drag it on. No matter how dysfunctional their family is, there's no doubt that Dory, Mircea and Radu are a tight unit and I hope Ms Chance continues to explore this aspect.

Finally, a word on the storyline. As a whole, I think it was pretty good and I enjoyed it. Then again, I love stories that involved successions and court intrigues, and the challenges for a Senate seat was akin to it :) However, there was more such as Ms Chance shedding light on Dory's dhampir nature - I love that part! How did Dory survive being a dhampir while so many others have died before her and what's more, it made sense. Unfortunately, as usually, not everything did and I still got confused at times ^_^; I think there was less superfluous parts than in Death's Mistress which was a plus, but still, I got lost a few times. The two parts that come to mind are when Ray was explaining how he created portals and the child... What's annoying with the confusion in Ms Chance's books is that even after re-reading the parts, I still can't figure it out. Sigh. I have to say though, the ending of Fury's Kiss made up for all the confusion because it was simply so awesome! LOL.

Besides the confusion, my other little complaint about Fury's Kiss was Dory's best friend, Christine. She just annoyed me so much! I didn't mind her in the first two books, but in here, I simply couldn't stand her. Yes, she does offer some support and I think her faith in Dory is very important for Dory. What annoys me though is that at the end of the day, she doesn't truly understand Dory and keeps ignoring that part of Dory is vampire is annoying... It's self-denial! And no matter how bad Dory and Mircea's relationship is, she shouldn't interfere. She's being over-protective when I think Dory can take care of herself... and seriously, I don't think she's helping all that much ^_^;

My Grade: B. Overall, my enjoyment of Fury's Kiss fell in the middle of the two first installments, mainly because of the storyline - it was much better than Midnight's Daughter, but didn't have as much omphf as Death's Mistress. It was also a satisfying read full of laughs with good developments :) I'm really looking forward for the next book, although I think it will only come out in 2014. Ugh. Definitively going to re-read int he meantime :)

Review: Death's Mistress by Karen Chance

Hi everyone :) How are you doing? I hope you've been enjoying the reviews. As you can see, I'm steadily catching up on my back-log of reviews. There are some books released in 2012 that I've read and really wanted to review and it'd be a shame if I didn't. So I'll continue on that track. In the meantime, my reading is finally picking up a bit!! Yay! Seriously, January has been so pathetic reading-wise. Sigh. I could say that I was away the first two weeks, but even then... Anyway, eventually, I'll be mixing up the reviews - books read in 2013 and 2012; hopefully, it'll work out since I just thought of it LOL.

Now, I gotta run to curling. That's been eating my reading time as well, but next week, there's a special activity at the club, so I hope that means I'll have more time to read and blog :) I'll try to write a post about curling soon though, I think I'm due :)

Enjoy!

Death's Mistress by Karen Chance
published by New American Library (Signet)

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Back home in Brooklyn after the demise of her insane uncle Dracula, Dory’s hoping her life is about to calm down. But then she gets some visitors. A friend wants Dory’s help in finding a magical Fey relic, and the gorgeous vampire, Louis-Cesare, is desperate to find his former mistress Christine.

Dory and Louis-Cesare quickly discover that the same master vampire Christine is bound to is also rumored to be in possession of the relic. But when the master vampire turns up dead, they realize that there’s more at stake than a missing mistress. Someone is killing vampire Senate members, and if Dory and Louis-Cesare can’t stop the murderer, they may be next…

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dorina Basarab, Book #2

The Story: At the end of Death's Mistress, Dorina received a written request from her father Mircea to work for the Senate. As a result, for over a month, she's been freelancing on the smuggling task force which mostly consists of bringing Mircea the head - dead or alive - of the vampires he asks for. This suits Dorina's abilities and it pays well, so it's a win-win situation so far for her. That is until she's asked to bring in Raymond, a fifth-level master, alive. It turns out that Raymond was in charge of setting up an auction for a magical Fey relic which protects whoever wears it from death... and let just say that with the war, political instability and the challenges for a North America Senate seat going, the relic has become the hottest item in town! Not to mention that the relic was stolen from the Fey and they want it back to protect the new heir! And so Dory is tasked by her best friend - the new Fey princess - to retrieve it. It would have been easy too if it hadn't been stolen a second time from Ray's auction and if she didn't have to work against Louis-Cesare, her latest colleague and potential lover, who needs the relic to rescue his former mistress Christine...

My Opinion: As you know, I was looking for something to read back in October and decided to give this series a chance because I've read a lot of good about Ms Chance's writing. So I started with Midnight's Daughter and while the storyline didn't blow me away - it actually confused me a lot at times ^_^; - I enjoyed it enough to pick up the next installment, Death's Mistress... and I'm so glad I did because I ended up loving Death's Mistress!!

There were a lot of elements that worked for me in Death's Mistress but what stood out the most was the humor :) There were just so many LOL moments because of the characters or certain situations they found themselves in that I probably grinned throughout the book. Oh and the combination of Dory and Ray, just priceless LOL. It also made me overlook some of the flaws that Death's Mistress had, but more on that later. Aside from the humor, I have to say that I enjoyed the characters a lot and the way they interacted with each other. If I had to be objective, I'd say Dory is not very different from all the UF heroines out there. After all, she's smart, kick-ass, mentally strong and has some unique abilities... but there's just something about her that works. Perhaps it's the fact that she's very straightforward and simple. Dory is smart, but if she doesn't get something, she'll ask you - probably with a punch - for an answer instead of spending too much time figuring it all out :) And I guess that straightforwardness is part of her charm. Where the depth in character appears is not so much in her personality, but instead in her dynamics with the other characters. She's herself, but it seems each person in her entourage brings out a different part of her personality. For example, with Radu she is more relaxed, casual; with Louis-Cesare, it's Dory the woman; with Marlowe, she's very rebellious, trying to antagonize him; and with Mircea, it's a more confused, insecure Dory. It's really an interesting way to discover Dory and I like it :)

Speaking of interactions, I'm really enjoyed Dory's relationship with Mircea and I think this is a big part of the series. They are father and daughter, but there is so much misunderstandings between them. However, I'm really liking how their relationship is developing. As much as Dory doubts it, it's evident that Mircea cares about her and loves her - not because she's an asset, but because she is his blood and flesh. And no matter what Dory says, she loves him and there is loyalty between them. In any case, I'm really looking forward to see where this is heading. I also can't help but wonder how Mircea is in the Cassie Palmer series and how it's been possible for him to keep these two women, who are so important for him, apart. Another relationship that's interesting is the one Dory shares with Louis-Cesare. This is the romance aspect of the book and I like that Ms Chance is taking her time, developing it. It's very light - in the sense that the amount in the story is limited - but it has great impact on the characters and the story. As for the story, I thought it was very interesting. I liked that there were some good twists, lots of action and how everything came together, how it all connected together. Suspense-wise, I think Ms Chance did a great job, especially with the ending. I loved what happened and wow about Anthony, it was just all exciting :)

Now, the not so great. I mentioned that I was confused at times in Midnight's Daughter and unfortunately, so was I in Death's Mistress. Sometimes, it was simply the action sequences that was hard to follow. Other times though, it was whole chunks of the story that seem to have no connection whatsoever with the storyline. For example, the part where Dory was going to the races. Big "huh" here. I understood that she needed to get to the race, but the whole meeting with those young adults didn't add anything to the storyline and it just seemed like it came out of nowhere. So those parts of the story were superfluous in my opinion, but worst, they disrupted the pacing of book... and that was unfortunate, because otherwise, Death's Mistress would have been the perfect UF book. There were also some parts of the story where I was really confused as to what was happening and I guess it's says a lot about Ms Chance's writing that I could overlook those part. Finally, I have to say that I'm not super fond of Dory's best friend, Claire. She was okay in the first book, but she's slowly getting on my nerve. Yes, she is a good friend to Dory, but the problem is she doesn't completely understand Dory and not making an effort to. It's as if what she says and thinks is it.

My Grade: B+. Death's Mistress is the kind of book that the more I re-read, the more I love and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it :)

Review: Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

Ugh, why is it that every time I have a plan to write a review, I get busy? Seriously! Okay, I was perhaps a little ambitious, wanting to review all three books of the series, LOL, so I should be happy that I at least managed to write this one... Anyway, it seems that I need a better plan since the next few weeks are going to be extremely busy with the holidays but also the lab closing. Hmmmm, if only I was good at building up a stash of reviews LOL. In any case, I'll be trying and I guess that's what matters!

Enjoy!


Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

published by New American Library in October 2008

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir-half human, half vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory's vampire father has come back into her life. Her Uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on Earth that truly scares her, so when Dory has to go up against him, she'll take all the help she can get…...

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dorina Basarab series, Book #1

The Story: As it says in the blurb, Dorina is a dhampir, i.e. half-human, half vampire. Dhampirs usually live short lives given vampires' hatred for them and the berserker blackouts. Dory is a rare one, probably the only one, who has managed to survive 500 years... However, she knows her end - that one day, she'll go into a rage and won't come back either because she'll be killed or will have lost her mind. For now though, she is content with her life. She even has found a roommate, a null, who has a calming effect on her rages. Except that Claire has suddenly disappeared and Dory suspects foul play, especially when word on the street is that Claire is pregnant and the baby is a dhampir.

So Dory is busy and is less than happy when her father, the mighty Mircea, shows up and demands that she helps him with family business. Considering that family business is to capture Dracula - again - and she almost got killed the last time, plus uncle Drac hates her and is looking for payback, let just say that Dory is less than thrilled. However, as a bargaining chip, Mircea offers to find Claire and with the Senate resources at hand, he is most likely to achieve it faster than Dory is... and thus, Dory accepts to help. As a result, she is now saddled with Louis-Cesare, her uncle Radu's first-level master vampire offspring, who is determined to fight with her for control of the mission.

My Opinion: I was looking for something to read and came across Li's post for October new releases. On it, she had Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance. Li has been a fan of Ms Chance for years and she's always so excited when a book comes out and always seems to enjoy them so much. I tried reading Touch of Dark, the first book in the Cassie Palmer series, years ago and I don't know, just didn't get into it... and I'm not likely to try again given the love triangle. However, Fury's Kiss blurb sounded really interesting and Dorina seemed like my type of heroine :) Plus, this is a spin-off series, so I thought I'd give it a try from the beginning... and I'm really glad I did :)

As I suspected, Dory was indeed my type of heroine: kick-ass and a little crazy LOL. She was also very loyal, not only to her friend Claire, but to her family as well. I'm sure that given some time, she would have accepted to go after Dracula even if Mircea didn't offer the incentive. And I liked her attitude. Life is not perfect, but she rolls with it. She doesn't weight herself down thinking too much about the past or the future and it's not that she doesn't care, because she does... but mostly, she simply lives in the moment. Which is not a bad idea for someone who expects to die at any moment. In addition to her character, I also loved her family background - that she is the daughter of Mircea, a powerful vampire on the Senate, and the niece of Radu and the Dracula... Also that Ms Chance based it on a little on history with Mircea, Dracula and Radu... It was the perfect backdrop to this dysfunctional family because the conflicts were real and it definitively added a little something to the series.

Another pro to Midnight's Daughter is that I really enjoyed all the other characters and their dynamics with Dory. The relationship that Dory shares with Mircea is complex, but also very interesting. The way Dory talks about Mircea, it seems he doesn't care about her and is always manipulating her... but I'm sure Mircea loves Dory a lot. Perhaps it's being an outsider and therefore having a new perspective. Or else, it's always been there, but Dory just never wanted to believe, preferring to lie to herself. In any case, she talks a good game, but as I said earlier, she cares and she does love Mircea. I loved, loved, loved Radu!! He was soooo hilarious LOL. His interactions with Dory were fun and ridiculous. There's a solid bond between Radu and Mircea which I liked. I liked that family matters - to a certain extent - and that Dory, Mircea, Radu and Louis-Cesare have each other's back. As for Louis-Cesare, once again, I liked his interactions with Dory. LOL, that opening scene when Dory is rubbing Louis-Cesare's face in the rug... He also has a huge chip on his shoulder which makes him resent Dory a little, but despite that, he's still loyal to Radu and Mircea. I feel we haven't seen him enough, but from what we saw, I say he is intriguing and has potential.

Where it gets tricky in Midnight's Daughter is the plot. It was actually interesting and it got me hooked... at first. I mean, Dory and Louis-Cesare are going after Dracula! It should have been very exciting, with action non-stop... but it wasn't. There were quite a few down times and those felt incongruous with the storyline. I also need to mention that for some reasons, the storyline was difficult to follow. I read and re-read some parts and somehow, things were still jumbled up and I just could not untangle it :( Furthermore, there was the other storyline about Dory's missing friend Claire which intersected with the main plot several times... and it just added to the confusion ^_^; Perhaps some of it stemmed from not reading the original series and therefore, missing some information in the world building... but I don't think so. Plus, I actually liked the world Midnight's Daughter is taking place in, mostly because while it does focus on the vampires, it doesn't have all the vampires clichés and is therefore refreshing. Although I wouldn't mind reading a bit about the different levels of masters and their hierarchy and what is going on with the world besides the fact there is a war. Anyway, at the end of the day, Dracula was slayed, but I thought the showdown was anti-climatic.

My Grade: B-. I think that Midnight's Daughter does a good job at setting up this spin-off series. It introduces Dorina, the important players and their dynamics well... But as much as I loved that part of the book, I think the storyline was a bit disappointing. It had a lot of potential, but things never really happened... Or they did, but it was so confusing that I didn't get it ^_^; At the end of the day though, I enjoyed Midnight's Daughter enough to start the next book, Death's Mistress, right away :)