Archive for Vampire Books
Does Hamilton’s Anita Blake Get Too Sexy for Most Fantasy Writers?
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I know there is some controversy about Laurell K. Hamilton’s sexy vampire hunter Anita Blake. For even the most generous of fantasy writers, the book can sometimes veer from vampire fantasy to something a bit hotter and hmmmm – well almost kinky. Personally, I think it fits the character just fine. Anita is a lot of anger and passion in a very hot little package. Maybe wound a little tight, but still more or less under control. She may be one hard-ass gal, but she does seem to attract the most swoon-worthy of the paranormal set. That’s when they aren’t trying to kill her, that is.
But Hamilton doesn’t seem too worried by the buzz about the sexual appetites of her main character. I agree that although the sex seems to have overtaken the series by about the mid-point of where we are now, I still enjoy them all. Hamilton is still in my books one of the most passionate writers within the vampire sub-genre of fantasy. There is a reason the series is coming up on book 23. When it comes to vamps, weres and fast-paced adventure, it is hard to beat Hamilton at her game.
If you are a fan already, you may enjoy her current musings on her latest project Affliction. If you have heard of Anita Blake and her vampire hunter adventures, and were curious, here is your chance to check it out.
This is the first book that introduces us to Anita and company. The world is much like our own, only with a few twists. One is that vampires and werewolves exist and are out in the open about it. Another is that there are some humans who can literally “raise the dead” and Anita is one of them. Imagine the possibilities for solving a murder if you can have the murdered come back and finger who killed them. Most days, that is exactly what Anita is up to in her work as a necromancer.
Anita is talked into going to a vampire nightclub for a friend’s bachelorette party – and that is when the action truly begins. She meets the very sensual Master Vampire Jean Claude, who is everything a sexy vampire should be. He is tall, dark, French and dripping in lace and leather with a sardonic wit to match his piercing eyes.
Things get ugly when Anita is kidnapped by the Master of the City Nikolaos. She is a sadistic killer who will stop at nothing, and wants Anita’s ability for solving paranormal murders to help her find out who is killing vamps. Jean Claude does come to her rescue, but we also see that Anita is a gal who can take care of herself, thank you very much. We see plenty of action, smoldering sensuality but no sex yet. Just wait- there is more to come.
This time around it is Voodoo Queens that Anita must contend with. While following clues to solve a murder, Anita meets up with Dominga, who has learned to harness her voodoo abilities by replacing the souls of the dead. She plans on creating an army of sexual slaves she can easily sell and from it amass great wealth and power. She even offers to show Anita, who already can raise the dead, how to move beyond simple voodoo to even greater powers, as her partner.
It is Anita’s refusal to be a part of this horrific plan that puts her in the center of a battle, and for more than just power. For the dominion of souls is at stake, and Anita fights not just for her life, but for the balance of good and evil in her world.
Of course, in the midst of all of this there is the question of Jean Claude and what he means to her. Anita continues to be drawn to him, and he to her. But she will not succumb without a fight and Jean Claude cares too much to compel her. Their bonds pull them closer all the time, but Anita is frightened by what it could do to her soul if she should give in to her growing desires. You are gonna grip the pages and sweat through this one!
You can be reading these tonight when you download the Kindle version of Guilty Pleasures or The Laughing Corpse. Still the old fashion book fan? That’s okay; we got you covered too with paperback versions of both Guilty Pleasures and Laughing Corpse as well. Can’t say we didn’t make it easy for you.
Night Huntress Series Author Jeanine Frost Announces New Fantasy Series
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For those of us who love Jeanine Frost’s Night Huntress series, she has a new one in the wings that sounds equally dark and delicious. The new series will be a paranormal romance called Realmwalker . We should see the first book hit the net and bookstore shelves this coming fall, probably around October. The word on the street is that Harlequin will be publishing it under their HQN line and Frost has said that the protagonists will be younger than she usually has them. From the sounds of it, this new fantasy series may fall within the boundaries of a YA urban fantasy.
Destiny will play a big role in this new series, much as it did for Cat in Night Huntress. The main character (no name yet) is a teen who in the first book of the series discovers she is a part of an ancient group of people. Just what kind of people Frost is not yet revealing, but my guess is there will be vampires in here somewhere. She says not to expect the “adult” type of vampire characters we saw in Night Huntress but that there will be plenty of supernatural beings to keep the paranormal fans happy.
The girl has an ally in a mysterious young man, and there are hints that a romance will grow between the two. But Frost says that initially there will be plenty of sparks and a fear of betrayal. Since this was the tension that made the adventures of Cat and Bones so much fun, I am hoping that kind of sparring will be evident in this series as well.
She says that the idea of this series came to her in a dream that was so vivid she had to write down her memories of the characters. From that she began to write and flesh it out, and soon she had 15,000 words. Since this is pretty much how she came to the idea for the Night Huntress series, I have to admit I am pretty excited to hear this.
For those fans of her two current series, Night Huntress and Night Prince, have no fear we are losing our beloved vamps and vamp hunters. Frost says that the work she is doing on this new YA series will not interfere with her current work on these two series and they will each have new books coming out this year.
Luscious Vampire Romance Revealed in Blood Vine
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With a setting in a Northern California winery and a vampire versus hunter setup, what else could you call it but a luscious vampire romance worth every tasty sip? Perhaps the tasty treat is not apparent from the start but it definitely builds to something to appeal to a discerning palate very quickly.
I will admit that the sensual nature of the story is fairly dripping from the start, but it is the characters of Andre and Kos, the two Croatian vampires that are the center of this tale that captivates. The lovely Zoey becomes the crux that builds the story.
A Race in Peril
Refugees from the land that has long supported their survival, the vampire race have become few and feeble. They are a victim of the eradication of their kind by the Hunters in Croatia, and the disease that enfeebles them the longer they are estranged from their home. Most of their fellow vampires have scattered across the world, gone into hiding. Those few that are left are slowly aging and dying.
But Andre and Kos may have found an answer in what they have created by grafting vines from their homeland and developing a wine that somehow recreates the curing properties of their native soil. After twenty years of work, they have found the cure. But now how can they find their hidden brethren and let them know?
Hidden Agendas
This is where Zoey comes in. She is a hard-nosed practical PR specialist, and her boss Ethan has asked her to take on the new winery client. He tells them that the winery needs a branding specialist like her. What her boss, that she has been having a casual affair with for the last year, has not told her is that he is a Hunter, and knows the vineyard owners are his prey.
Love Walks In
But as soon as Zoey arrives she is shocked to realise that the new client Andre is someone she has met before. A year ago she had walked into a San Francisco bar and met him, almost went home with him. But something sad and very familiar in him stopped her. However, it didn’t stop her from dreaming about him almost every night since. What she doesn’t know is that Andre has never forgotten her or that almost connection they had. It has haunted him, and then she walks into his winery.
It is a formula bound to bring complications to an already complicated situation. For they can smell the Hunter on her, know that in some way she is bound to him. Their lives are in danger, she is somehow connected but they have to take the risk. They need her expertise to somehow reach out to the other vamps and tell them a cure has been found. A wine can be marketed to reach them and cure, if they can only find a way to tell those in hiding that it is here.
Danger Lurks
The blood races, the longing grows and the danger circles ever closer. Can Andre and Zoey trust this feeling, when both have been damaged by love before? Can they together find a way to save his people? And if they do, will it be enough to help them survive the Hunters plans?
Vampire Romance
This is a driven vampire romance that has all the luscious overtones and ripe body of a fine wine. The setting in a modern Northern California winery combined with the old world charm of the vampire’s native Croatia are a perfect complement to each other. Zoey’s need to stay above the call of her own needs and Andres sad loneliness beneath the charming exterior make you root for their love to take hold and grow. I hear they may be more, a series even perhaps. I sure hope so, because there are so many places this story go grow. You can get your own copy of this luscious and poetic vampire romance tale in either Kindle or paperback format.
