This series certainly started off with a bang! The author grabbed me by my lady balls and led me to all the places she wanted me to go! That, however, was the first book. This is the second. This one I liked a lot less but it had some good points too!Marissa was only an okay heroine for me. I think as far as heroines go in paranormal romances, she had it pretty easy. Similar to the heroine's beginning at the start of Book 1, Marissa is kidnapped but this time, she's kidnapped by the bad guys! I was thrilled (obviously) that she was saved and her rescue was equal parts exciting and hilarious. She's definitely in some danger later in the book but I still felt like she got off easy. There isn't a lot for me to say about Marissa other than that though. She's pleasant and likable...and entirely forgettable. Her sister hates her for reasons that are revealed towards the end of the book and they're shocking in their context and in how the author gives about five seconds of story to this terrible revelation. But her sister's hatred and the fact that Marissa really wants to be a chef are the only remotely interesting things about her.Dev, the hero, is pretty cute. His story was a bit more interesting than Marissa's. Dev is a pure blood, which sounds like it's kind of a big deal but it didn't seem to make much difference other than Dev having the ability to use his eyes as some kind of flashlights? Like, they can glow really bright and illuminate the area around him? I wasn't sure what else made being a pure blood great but his mom was seriously invested in it. Speaking of Dev's parents, I loved the fact that Dev started the book feeling one way about his dad and finished the book feeling a completely opposite way. I won't give away how it plays out but I thought it was pretty cool. Dev had some self-realizations in this book and he made some changes in himself and I found that to be the thing that I liked the most about him. He could admit that he was wrong or was only seeing something from his side and he made changes and tried to do better. What more could I ask for?The Sexy Time is minimal since the characters in this world have to wait until marriage or "bonding" before they can get down and dirty. In fact, now that I think of it, it's a little bit too on the nose that the author has the first bite from these dudes as super painful for the first few seconds, but from then on, it's all pleasure. It kind of hits the sex metaphor too obviously for my tastes. It seemed to me that there were tons of mommy/daddy issues here for these characters so I felt like the romance took a bit of a back seat to personal growth on this book. Dev and Marissa have an extended courtship, which I suppose fulfilled the romance aspect required to call this a paranormal romance. There is also a good bit of a secondary romance between Alex, a human, and Luvera, Dev's sister. I was more interested in Dev and Marissa so I wasn't too hooked on Alex and Luvera's story. I hate to say this but for me, this book was far inferior to Book 1 in this series (The Bloodline War). I also think this will be the place in this series where you can't start beyond and still understand all the back stories and the overall war. The back story of the Varcolec enemy is expanded here and it was explained a little less so after this book, it may get confusing and readers who start the series after this book will probably be missing quite a bit of info. This book had a lot of action but very little romance, very little humor and very little Sexy Time. I found the main characters to be a little less likable this time around but it's possible that it was due to the expanding back stories and the secondary romance. I also didn't love the jumping back and forth between the 3 or 4 stories that were going on: Flashbacks from Dev's mother's history during the 1800's, Dev and Marissa's relationship, Luvera's issues, Alex's issues, and an additional bonding pair. It was a lot and it prevented me from focusing on any one thing long enough to start to care about them. I didn't love this one but I'm going to check out the next book in this series before I decide whether to keep going with this series or quit now.
At 12%, it's already like this : "This whole night was fifty different ingredients of nutso, put into a blender and then set for frappé. Men who couldn't be killed, other men who appeared dead but actually weren't, white-colored blood, flashing red eyes, knives that exploded and then, of course, the all-consuming why me ?"I've found a new series to love and follow, yay ! The first book could have been excellent and not the next, but no, it's really as much fun ! First, there is Dev, that whose charm I've come to enjoy in book #1, I've been looking forward to his own story. He's sexy but is far from perfect.Then, there's Marissa, another strong female lead character.Luvera, Dev's sister, lives under their horrid mother Pettrila's thumb (and she's 49 - vampire-style. You come to hate Pettrila until you know more about her.The Varcolac still gather Dragon women (not shifters, but women with special blood that they need to be able to keep their race from extinction - yes, they can have babies with them only !). Yet they have changed their ways : no more abductions. Now, they offer money and the opportunity of a career to attract them underground. Once they've been settled for some time and have learned to know and like the community, the Varcolac hope they won't hightail out of fear from the surprising truth. The Dragon think they work for a certain firm with mean competitors, but surely don't expect a war between supernatural beings.I was glad to find all those characters again, the crazy community, the action, the suspense and the sexiness. And the humor :[a slightly tipsy and unaware Dragon woman speaks] :"I was a psych major in college and we used to joke about vampires all the time, like... like... acording to Freudian theory, those long fangs compensated for a small weenie." She hooted. "Or a serious case of impotence."Dev smiled, closed-lipped, a tic of muscle shivering along his bruised cheek. "You don't say.""Chelsea," Marissa intervened quickly. "I think you're embarrassing him.""What ? Nuh-uh." Chelsea gestured at Dev with her drink, nearly sloshing it."Come on, it's not like you're a real vampire. But if you were" - she giggled - "you wouldn't be able to get it up, no way."It's also funny that those women are slightly afraid of Jacken and have a hard time believing him and Toni are married ! The whole vampire tradition in this series is also unusual - we even learn where the "traditional" idea of vampires come from !I could write more and more, but you get the main idea : this series is great fun, go get it and read it asap !!
Do You like book The Purest Of The Breed (2014)?
Sensitive readers should be warned about a graphic rape scene in the first few chapters.Now on to the positive...Dev and Marissa fit together like two pieces of a puzzle! They both went through some shattering experiences and I honestly don't know what they would have done without each other to lean on. They had a strong connection to begin with and I loved seeing how it developed over time. Dev desperately wanted Marissa as his mate but she had her own plans for her life and she wasn't ready to give them up... even for him. Yes, it caused some angst between them but it was nothing they couldn't solve.It's no secret that I adore Toni and Kimberly and it was wonderful to see them both in their element. Thank God for strong females!The flashbacks to the 1800's added so much to the story as well. We get the heart-breaking backstory behind the marriage of Dev's parents and the Vârcolac being forced to flee their home country. I could see that there was more to Pettrila than the toxic shrew and sure enough, I couldn't blame her for being the way she was. As far as the development of the overall story... we learn something about a certain detective and Raymond's daughter Pandra is becoming an intriguing character. I'd love to see more of her in the next book.
—Rachel (Cullen House Reviews)
I can't wait for the next book!!!This is the second book in the series, and the way this one ended, there will definitely be a third (HOORAY!!!)Tracy's books are kind of like a 2-for-1 deal: she doesn't just introduce a supporting character and then never mention it again. She gives the reader an in-depth look at the supporting character(s), almost like a novella inside of the novel. This really had me invested in the collective characters and eager to read more about them, hopefully in subsequent books. She also involved the main characters from book 1 in book 2 and even continued their story. It was like catching up with old friends, and I was SO happy!I absolutely LOVED everything that transpired between Marissa and Dev, especially their first meeting (it was pretty funny. I think you'll laugh when you read it!). His unwavering devotion to her is so endearing, and the dialogue between them truly made me FEEL. Even though Dev is a big, tough warrior, life seems to throw him a few unexpected curve balls that shatters his world around him. I really felt for him, and if Marissa didn't comfort him, I would have jumped into that book and done it myself!Similarly, Marissa is forced to deal with some unfortunate issues, which makes them a perfect couple. Not many love scenes in the book, but it really didn't need them. The actual LOVE between the characters was engaging enough to read. The story kept developing twists that kept me guessing until the end. Heck, even the last sentence of the book has me guessing about the NEXT book!I love this series because all of the males are to-the-death devoted to their mates. Once he know who she is, he never wavers in his commitment: he doesn't ever WANT to. I love reading stories like that; where he finds his "one and only" and never lets anything come between them. This series definitely keeps getting better. I am looking forward to at least one more in the series, but I'm also very interested in reading Tracy's other upcoming books in other romance-genres, not just paranormal!***A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review***
—Romance Novel Giveaways Lauren Seiberling
Although I'm really enjoying this new series, I have to say this one fell a little short for me. (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD)Although I appreciated how Dev wasn't a "perfect" guy, I didn't enjoy the main characters as much for some reason, and some of their "dating" conversations seemed kind of forced to me. I also would have liked more from them when they finally did get together. The book skipped ahead a lot, and I felt slightly cheated by their HEA. There were a lot of different storylines going on
—L.E. Wilson
