Blood Noir

Okay so I finished the book already.  I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it, the plot that is. 

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Le sang de mon sang, mon coeur au votre.

But there is a plot right?  

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That which does not kill you usually hurts a lot.

Somewhat of a plot, I think.  I read it the first day it came out and really haven't wanted to reread it, which is odd for me.  I liked it though, but it doesn't hold up to the start she had in Harlequin.

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What do you mean, I have to do it again?

OK I've decided.  While definitely not  the best book in the series  it does give a  good set up for the next book.   The sex was a over done, scenes really could've been shorter.  The main action of the book felt to rushed since it was pretty much at the end. I am glad that she had Richard redeem himself, and wonder what will happen with the tigers.

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Le sang de mon sang, mon coeur au votre.

Still have not read it but it sounds like it follows the usual pattern.  I think her books would end better if would write an actual epilogue rather than shove all the plot resolution into the last two paragraphs immediately after all the major action had ended.  It would give her time to flesh them and their effects out a little more and not feel so hasty.

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That which does not kill you usually hurts a lot.

Well, my first thought I had before reading it was to wonder if she might tone down the sex in this book to continue the storyline.  Nope.  Page two (or there about).

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What do you mean, I have to do it again?

Hmm, how do I put this into words?

Sex, broken up by metaphysical action with a mistaken identiy farce put in?

So what did we have here?

More plot-complicating sex/magic/were funny business.
More Richard-bashing*
Suspiciously little Jean-Claude
Metaphysical loop holes/shortcomings
An ending that felt like the plot had hit a wall so here come the bad guys of the week to save the day.


*I am kind of tired of Richard getting dumped on all the time.  Sure, he can't get over the Anita has thirty partners a week thing but look at it from his perspective; he gives her what she wants (i.e. embraces his beast) and suddenly she goes running to her rival that, up to that point, she hated and now magically loves and, oh by the way, infects here with some power that turns her into ultra-tramp?  And yet every argument is always his fault?

**She plays up the "we can send each other mental messges" bit all the time and yet she can't give Richard a mental message about the lie she is about to tell (and never did tell him the truth about). 
Also-why didn't the individual who got captures transform into wolf mode and fight his way out.  And would not the vampires realize that their target was not a were (considering his high-profile status) and that they had the wrong guy?

Not one of her better novels I hate to say.

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That which does not kill you usually hurts a lot.

In many ways I have to agree with you Veez.  I tell myself that scince the book is written in first person from Anita's point of view.  Anita's psyche is the cause for all the Richards fault stuff.  I too wish that would change, I mean, if LKH is going to have Anita grow magically couldn't she have her grow as a person and accept her share of the blame?

As for Jason not shifting when he was abducted, I think the book had mentioned that he'd been drugged. If we think positivly there were many things she rushed thru in this book that she should be able to expound on in the next(or so we hope).

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Le sang de mon sang, mon coeur au votre.

Sanguinette wrote:  I tell myself that scince the book is written in first person from Anita's point of view.  Anita's psyche is the cause for all the Richards fault stuff. As for Jason not shifting when he was abducted, I think the book had mentioned that he'd been drugged. If we think positivly there were many things she rushed thru in this book that she should be able to expound on in the next(or so we hope).

That's an excellent point about Anita's point of view-I forget how we are getting events through the lense of her opinion/memories.

Weres get over being drugged quickly, and since the idiots who kidnapped them could not tell he was a were (not sure how they were that stupid-I'll chock it up to their being new) they would not have wanted to give him so much that he would not be able to talk.  I think she just did not think it through for whatever reason.  Either he publisher needs to give her more pages (which as popular as her books are I don't see why that would be a problem) or her editor needs to sit down with her and work through the shortcomings.

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That which does not kill you usually hurts a lot.