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destiel74's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I love Sasha and Ewan's relationship was part forbidden love and part enemies to lovers. It was sort of like a mix of both. I also loved seeing the plotting scheming within this supernatural world.
amym84's review
4.0
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
Being turned from a dhampir into a full-fledged vampire did not go quite how Sasha was expecting it to with her soul lost and the love she feels for her coven master, Saeed, being unrequited. Sasha decides to let loose and live a little, partying all night wherever and with whomever she wants, but even that is starting to lose its luster. That is, until she’s at an underground cage match and she finds her soul tethered to none other than a berserker, the vampire’s mortal enemy.
Tired of living in squalor with his brethren—blindly following his leader’s unrepentant quest to find the dhampir responsible for the death of all the berserkers’ mates centuries ago—Ewan has decided to use his berserker strength and endurance to earn some extra cash on the side by fighting in illegal cage matches. He hopes the fighting will eventually give him enough money to strike out on his own. When he finds himself mated to a vampire his warlord “boss” Ian Gregor sees it as a perfect opportunity to infiltrate enemy lines, and find the information needed to completely eradicate the vampires. Ewan is on board with this plan, until he starts spending time with Sasha. When Ewan’s fighting lands him in trouble with the demons, both Sasha and Ewan will have to get past their differences if they want to survive.
Kate Baxter has done a great job building up this series and all the characters within it. While it’s not unusual for two supernaturals from different factions to wind up as mates (as has been employed in the previous two books in the series alone), this time around we have a true enemies-to-lovers story, and with that story we get a good glimpse at the berserkers who have been the main antagonists in this series from the start.
In fact, I pretty much loved the continuation of the overall story arc more than I did Sasha and Ewan’s romance (sorry guys!). We learn a lot of interesting tidbits about the Soritari leader, which is something else that has been lacking in the storyline up to this point. We also get some pretty good details about what went down between the berserkers and vampires centuries ago. It “humanizes” the group, which up until this point were pretty much just viewed as mindless killing machines.
The Wicked Vampire deals a lot with history, but I felt like Sasha and Ewan’s personal histories were slightly sidelined in favor of showcasing the history of the conflict between the groups. I wanted just a bit more focus on Sasha and Ewan because it is, indeed, their book, and I think it would have made how they work towards acknowledging the mate bond that much sweeter.
This has been an excellent series for those who have been missing the vampire as the paranormal creature of choice lately. The world-building is fantastic. As Kate Baxter is a master at teasing readers with where the story goes next, every time I finish one book, I’m eagerly anticipating the next.
Being turned from a dhampir into a full-fledged vampire did not go quite how Sasha was expecting it to with her soul lost and the love she feels for her coven master, Saeed, being unrequited. Sasha decides to let loose and live a little, partying all night wherever and with whomever she wants, but even that is starting to lose its luster. That is, until she’s at an underground cage match and she finds her soul tethered to none other than a berserker, the vampire’s mortal enemy.
Tired of living in squalor with his brethren—blindly following his leader’s unrepentant quest to find the dhampir responsible for the death of all the berserkers’ mates centuries ago—Ewan has decided to use his berserker strength and endurance to earn some extra cash on the side by fighting in illegal cage matches. He hopes the fighting will eventually give him enough money to strike out on his own. When he finds himself mated to a vampire his warlord “boss” Ian Gregor sees it as a perfect opportunity to infiltrate enemy lines, and find the information needed to completely eradicate the vampires. Ewan is on board with this plan, until he starts spending time with Sasha. When Ewan’s fighting lands him in trouble with the demons, both Sasha and Ewan will have to get past their differences if they want to survive.
Kate Baxter has done a great job building up this series and all the characters within it. While it’s not unusual for two supernaturals from different factions to wind up as mates (as has been employed in the previous two books in the series alone), this time around we have a true enemies-to-lovers story, and with that story we get a good glimpse at the berserkers who have been the main antagonists in this series from the start.
In fact, I pretty much loved the continuation of the overall story arc more than I did Sasha and Ewan’s romance (sorry guys!). We learn a lot of interesting tidbits about the Soritari leader, which is something else that has been lacking in the storyline up to this point. We also get some pretty good details about what went down between the berserkers and vampires centuries ago. It “humanizes” the group, which up until this point were pretty much just viewed as mindless killing machines.
The Wicked Vampire deals a lot with history, but I felt like Sasha and Ewan’s personal histories were slightly sidelined in favor of showcasing the history of the conflict between the groups. I wanted just a bit more focus on Sasha and Ewan because it is, indeed, their book, and I think it would have made how they work towards acknowledging the mate bond that much sweeter.
This has been an excellent series for those who have been missing the vampire as the paranormal creature of choice lately. The world-building is fantastic. As Kate Baxter is a master at teasing readers with where the story goes next, every time I finish one book, I’m eagerly anticipating the next.
eloiseinparis's review
4.0
This is the first book I have read in this series and I was pleasantly surprised. I was totally expecting the usual paranormal romance fanfare, but was given a new twist. I have been annoyed for some time now by this genre’s reliance on instalove. Not to say that it can not be fun, but for it has been so overused. I’m tired of reading about a couple who met at 8am and by 5pm they are declaring their undying love and jumping in front of bullets for each other, That's a workday not a courtship period. Yes both species have a mate bond, and the couple was instantly attracted to each other and they had sexual chemistry. But they actually spent time together, talked, and got to know each other before declaring their love. Instead of a few days passing, weeks went by. But the story didn’t stagnante because we didn’t need to know all the details of time passing.
I also really enjoyed that both characters had full lives. So often one or both leads have nothing of substance in their lives so it's easy for them to just disappear and envelop themselves in their new mate’s life. Both of them had jobs, friends, family, and community that they couldn’t just easily walk away from. They both dealt with external and internal struggles. This book proved that even without instalove, with a reasonable passage of time, and with full if not fulfilling lives the hero and heroine can still have a HEA. One that is truly earned.
I also loved the world building and the differing species. I am hooked, and can not wait for the next book in this series.
I also really enjoyed that both characters had full lives. So often one or both leads have nothing of substance in their lives so it's easy for them to just disappear and envelop themselves in their new mate’s life. Both of them had jobs, friends, family, and community that they couldn’t just easily walk away from. They both dealt with external and internal struggles. This book proved that even without instalove, with a reasonable passage of time, and with full if not fulfilling lives the hero and heroine can still have a HEA. One that is truly earned.
I also loved the world building and the differing species. I am hooked, and can not wait for the next book in this series.
hollaback77's review
3.0
This is apparently part of a series and I haven't read the series. I don't believe you need to but this left me feeling a little blah. It wasn't that I didn't like the book. I just didn't know how this all translated to the plot and it left me all discombobulated. It had a lot of sexual content in it and the heroine liked to play mind games. If you KNOW that the hero is your mate - why are you going to be looking at everyone else? Anyhow, I will probably read the next one but I don't know.
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