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geleeregina's review
4.0
This one started out slow for me and took me a while to get into, but once I did I enjoyed it. While the "Vampire/Alien" slant is not new, I did like how the author introduced several other races that are "Aliens" as well. The chemistry between Antoinette & Christian was well written, and kept me interested in reading more. I really want to read more about Oberon. I have a thing for "teddy" bears, which he is definately NOT. The second book is on my "To Read" List. Hopefully it will be just as good, though quicker for me to get in to than this one.
shelleyrae's review
3.0
I am always excited to find an Australian author who is published in the PNR/UF genre. Australian publishers tend to be all about the mainstream, so it's a rare thing.
Night's Cool Kiss is the first in the Dark Brethren series, and O'Hara has imagined a world of slayers, blood lusting vampires and shape shifters with her own creative twist.
For Antoinette Petrescu, whose mother was murdered in front of her, becoming a Venator gave her permission to avenge her mother's death at the hands of a Necrodreniac, a killer vampire. Antoinette has a reputation as one of the best vampire hunters in the Guild but her prejudice extends to the Aeternus, vampires who co-operate within society. When the Dreniac, who killed her mother and was believed dead, surfaces Antoinette is the target of his psychopathic killing spree. To stop him, she has to team up with Christian, an Aeternus with a fearsome reputation, as well as untangle the mystery of her father's disappearance and political corruption.
Night's Cold Kiss is described as Dark Urban Fantasy. The sex and violence is too explicit to comfortably fit in the paranormal romance genre but neither do I feel it truly sits well in the Urban Fantasy genre. Though Antoinette is said to have the ability and attitude to look after herself, the plot has her relying heavily on interference from another character (almost always male) to survive or escape almost every confrontation. The story places a lot of emphasis on the partnership of Antoinette and Christian rather than fully realising Antoinette's strengths. Still, I found Antoinette's character interesting and sympathised with her motivations. Christian is the modern model of a vampire hero - a tortured past, outrageously handsome, rich, deadly etc. The development of their romantic relationship is quick but not rushed, the intimate scenes are well written but there is nothing particularly special about their connection.
As with many debut books of planned series, the information given to detail the world can sometimes crowd the plot or characters. O'Hara has developed a world with complex political systems and specific language which requires the reader to carefully consider the details given. The paranormal world co-exists with humanity but there are factions and resources that are specific to the alien culture. There are a lot of imagined terms used in the book but I think that in general the story provides enough context for the reader (and if not a glossary can be found at the end of the book). There are some unique touches, such as the heightened connection with animals that I hope is explored further. Viktor's pet dog, Cerebus is almost a character in his own right.
I found myself drawn into the dark and gritty world the characters inhabit. The plot is interesting and plays out logically. Vital threads are wrapped up but others are left to be, I assume, continued in later books. The pace is good and I found it a quick and well written read.
Night's Cold Kiss is a solid start to a new series that has piqued my interest in it's potential. It's blend of gritty fantasy with strong romantic elements offers something for fans of the PNR and UF genre who appreciate aspects of each. I look forward to the release of
[b:Death's Sweet Embrace|7294543|Death's Sweet Embrace (Dark Brethren #2)|Tracey O'Hara|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1289244186s/7294543.jpg|8611498] this month.
Night's Cool Kiss is the first in the Dark Brethren series, and O'Hara has imagined a world of slayers, blood lusting vampires and shape shifters with her own creative twist.
For Antoinette Petrescu, whose mother was murdered in front of her, becoming a Venator gave her permission to avenge her mother's death at the hands of a Necrodreniac, a killer vampire. Antoinette has a reputation as one of the best vampire hunters in the Guild but her prejudice extends to the Aeternus, vampires who co-operate within society. When the Dreniac, who killed her mother and was believed dead, surfaces Antoinette is the target of his psychopathic killing spree. To stop him, she has to team up with Christian, an Aeternus with a fearsome reputation, as well as untangle the mystery of her father's disappearance and political corruption.
Night's Cold Kiss is described as Dark Urban Fantasy. The sex and violence is too explicit to comfortably fit in the paranormal romance genre but neither do I feel it truly sits well in the Urban Fantasy genre. Though Antoinette is said to have the ability and attitude to look after herself, the plot has her relying heavily on interference from another character (almost always male) to survive or escape almost every confrontation. The story places a lot of emphasis on the partnership of Antoinette and Christian rather than fully realising Antoinette's strengths. Still, I found Antoinette's character interesting and sympathised with her motivations. Christian is the modern model of a vampire hero - a tortured past, outrageously handsome, rich, deadly etc. The development of their romantic relationship is quick but not rushed, the intimate scenes are well written but there is nothing particularly special about their connection.
As with many debut books of planned series, the information given to detail the world can sometimes crowd the plot or characters. O'Hara has developed a world with complex political systems and specific language which requires the reader to carefully consider the details given. The paranormal world co-exists with humanity but there are factions and resources that are specific to the alien culture. There are a lot of imagined terms used in the book but I think that in general the story provides enough context for the reader (and if not a glossary can be found at the end of the book). There are some unique touches, such as the heightened connection with animals that I hope is explored further. Viktor's pet dog, Cerebus is almost a character in his own right.
I found myself drawn into the dark and gritty world the characters inhabit. The plot is interesting and plays out logically. Vital threads are wrapped up but others are left to be, I assume, continued in later books. The pace is good and I found it a quick and well written read.
Night's Cold Kiss is a solid start to a new series that has piqued my interest in it's potential. It's blend of gritty fantasy with strong romantic elements offers something for fans of the PNR and UF genre who appreciate aspects of each. I look forward to the release of
[b:Death's Sweet Embrace|7294543|Death's Sweet Embrace (Dark Brethren #2)|Tracey O'Hara|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1289244186s/7294543.jpg|8611498] this month.
gems_31's review
4.0
This was a really great book and an excellent first in a series.
The author has written a tight book, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you enthralled.
I really liked the two main characters, both who have alot of emotional baggage. The fact that these two are thrown together is intresting as both acknowledge the fact that they are no good for eaxh other. The relationahip starts as purely sexual and progresses into something more. both parties tey to deny this connection at first, each for their own reasons.
The negative part of this? The old.cliches of the pnr genre mean they do come together. However it isn't in a cheesey way.
This isn't the only reason why i gave it 4 stars. I felt that the main plot was very quickly wrapped up, when it would have benifitted playing over three books. I have since found that the next.book in the series is about different characters. I'm not sure why as I thought there was.much more to tell with these.
The author also knows how to build thr sexual tension in a scene very well. An excellent example is when thr two mains are dancing the tango at some fancy do. Images of Mr and Mrs Smith came to mind and it was.written really well!
One last thing, the author is cruel! She is not above making you love a character only to steal.them away. I literally fought back the tears.
So I really would recommend this book!
The author has written a tight book, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you enthralled.
I really liked the two main characters, both who have alot of emotional baggage. The fact that these two are thrown together is intresting as both acknowledge the fact that they are no good for eaxh other. The relationahip starts as purely sexual and progresses into something more. both parties tey to deny this connection at first, each for their own reasons.
The negative part of this? The old.cliches of the pnr genre mean they do come together. However it isn't in a cheesey way.
This isn't the only reason why i gave it 4 stars. I felt that the main plot was very quickly wrapped up, when it would have benifitted playing over three books. I have since found that the next.book in the series is about different characters. I'm not sure why as I thought there was.much more to tell with these.
The author also knows how to build thr sexual tension in a scene very well. An excellent example is when thr two mains are dancing the tango at some fancy do. Images of Mr and Mrs Smith came to mind and it was.written really well!
One last thing, the author is cruel! She is not above making you love a character only to steal.them away. I literally fought back the tears.
So I really would recommend this book!
slc333's review
2.0
The main problem with this book is that Chritian and Antoinette are not particularly likeable and the 'romance'is forced and unbelievable. Anoinette has potential but her overly emotional and violent reactions, epsecially to Christian didn't ring true. They seemed more like a plot device than grounded in believable reasons and reactions- ie conflict required between hero/heroine- tick. I thought Anoinetter had more of a connection with Viktor. A romance between them would have been more believable.
I did feel sorry for her though - her brother and hunting partner left for job he applied and got married without telling her - what a jerk!, she finds out her dad is alive not dead as she was always told and that her uncle knew, and is stalked by her mother's killer.
Also I had a real problem with Christian as a hero. He basically went on a murderous rampage killing hundreds of humans (who had nothing to do with her death) because his wife was murdered. Then he is never punished because all the kiiling and revenge is counter productive to peace. Emil - who killed is wife is handed over and executed yet Christian who killed hnunderds of humans is give a place in the new world order with no consequence for his actions ( no remorse from what I can tell).
I did feel sorry for her though - her brother and hunting partner left for job he applied and got married without telling her - what a jerk!, she finds out her dad is alive not dead as she was always told and that her uncle knew, and is stalked by her mother's killer.
Also I had a real problem with Christian as a hero. He basically went on a murderous rampage killing hundreds of humans (who had nothing to do with her death) because his wife was murdered. Then he is never punished because all the kiiling and revenge is counter productive to peace. Emil - who killed is wife is handed over and executed yet Christian who killed hnunderds of humans is give a place in the new world order with no consequence for his actions ( no remorse from what I can tell).
reginaexmachina's review
So I picked up this book with no expectations, it had mixed reviews but I figured I'd give it a shot. The first few pages describe Antoinette, and to a lesser degree her brother Nici, on a mission. Antoinette is a Venator, meaning she is part of a group of humans hunting a type of creature called dreniacs. Supposedly from the opening and the blurb on the back I understood there's good vampires and bad vampires with the dreniacs being the 'bad' ones and a group called the Aeternus are the 'good' vampires. When Antoinette and her brother were children they were rescued by a Aeternus man called Christian. Some kind of shady dealings are going on with the Aeternus and Christian looks into it. This means Christian has to contact the Venators which gives him an opportunity to see Antoinette again. Antoinette see's Christian and is visibly upset and Christian leaves.
About right there I couldn't take it any more. Antoinette seemed an okay heroine but Christian's POV drove me nuts. He see's this woman whom he's barely seen since she was a little girl and immediately goes into descriptions of how he visions her naked and moaning. Eww. Maybe it's just me but he came off kind of ... sleazy to me. And the over-the-top descriptions were killing me. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
About right there I couldn't take it any more. Antoinette seemed an okay heroine but Christian's POV drove me nuts. He see's this woman whom he's barely seen since she was a little girl and immediately goes into descriptions of how he visions her naked and moaning. Eww. Maybe it's just me but he came off kind of ... sleazy to me. And the over-the-top descriptions were killing me. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
storytimewithlily's review
3.0
The plot was quite interesting and the execution was alright, the writing could have been better.
Some of the writing choices were...choices. It felt at times that the author was really wanting something to happen so sometimes two action scenes came one after the other with no breathing room, and then a whole lot of not much happened.
The characters (particularly our MC) flip flopped a bit. Antoinette was super against vampires at the start, actively hating them for no reason and then almost immediately becomes best friends with one.
Some of the writing choices were...choices. It felt at times that the author was really wanting something to happen so sometimes two action scenes came one after the other with no breathing room, and then a whole lot of not much happened.
The characters (particularly our MC) flip flopped a bit. Antoinette was super against vampires at the start, actively hating them for no reason and then almost immediately becomes best friends with one.
imjustcupcake's review
4.0
There were bits of this book that felt rather cliche and some of the descriptives were rather weak. Personally I could have done without Viktor being compared in looks to a boy form Manga more than once.
However, despite these faults I still rather enjoyed the story. For the longest time I was wondering if I would want to read the second one when it comes out, but I know now that I will want to. The end made me want more. There were many twists in the story, some that I wasn't even expecting.
However, despite these faults I still rather enjoyed the story. For the longest time I was wondering if I would want to read the second one when it comes out, but I know now that I will want to. The end made me want more. There were many twists in the story, some that I wasn't even expecting.
nicoleeast's review
1.0
I picked up this book because it looked like a fun, mindless UF read to cleanse my palate between heavy epic fantasy. I wanted a kick butt heroine and lots of high stakes vampire killing. What I received was a heroine who has supposedly killed 140 vampires but always seems to need rescuing. Oh, and it doesn't take long to see that this book is paranormal romance, not urban fantasy. Including acronyms of various government agencies that aren't really explained and barely discussed does not define the UF genre.
I reevaluated my expectations after about 50 pages; even though it wasn't what I wanted, I thought I could still enjoy it. I didn't. I found the plot just booooring.
As for characters: Antoinette is whiny and throws childish tantrums every chapter. Christian comes off as uber creepy and an Alpha Male (TM). The villain is obvious the first or second time you meet them. The only character who shows any personality is Victor.
Every minor male character is sleazy for no reason. Every minor female character is jealous of Antoinette's good looks.
Then there were parts that were just...urgh.
There's a scene that's uncomfortably close to date rape, and we're expected to just say it's fine. Then there's actually a could-have-been rape scene later that neither adds enjoyment nor enhances the story. Not trying to give spoilers, but these were things I would have appreciated knowing before reading.
I wouldn't recommend this one.
I reevaluated my expectations after about 50 pages; even though it wasn't what I wanted, I thought I could still enjoy it. I didn't. I found the plot just booooring.
As for characters: Antoinette is whiny and throws childish tantrums every chapter. Christian comes off as uber creepy and an Alpha Male (TM). The villain is obvious the first or second time you meet them. The only character who shows any personality is Victor.
Every minor male character is sleazy for no reason. Every minor female character is jealous of Antoinette's good looks.
Then there were parts that were just...urgh.
There's a scene that's uncomfortably close to date rape, and we're expected to just say it's fine. Then there's actually a could-have-been rape scene later that neither adds enjoyment nor enhances the story. Not trying to give spoilers, but these were things I would have appreciated knowing before reading.
I wouldn't recommend this one.
hrg100's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, there was a lot of action to keep me interested. Of all the series I have read, this probably most resembles the Chicagoland Vampire series, which is one of my favorite series. Antionette, the lead character, works for an angency that hunt Aerternus(vampires) that have turned Dreniac(rogue). I will definitely continue to read this series.