I’m going to start reviewing the books I read on my blog. Just quick thoughts on the book. I’m not a professional reviewer. I’m a writer, so this is more like an opinion with a rating. Lol.
First up is Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf.
Kiss Me Deadly
Michele Hauf
Death cocktail is what the vampires call a witch’s blood. It’s poisonous–a drop will destroy a vampire within minutes. Nikolaus Drake is the rare vampire who has survived his first taste. Now he’s on the hunt for the witch who almost brought him to his demise–Ravin Crosse.
A witch who spends her nights hunting vampire tribes, Ravin has three obligations to fulfill to set her soul free. One of those obligations–crafting a love spell–twists her world upside down when Nikolaus draws the spell from her veins. Natural enemies rarely make the best bedfellows–but is it possible their intentions are really, truly the same? Can Nikolaus’s tribal loyalty survive if he surrenders to desires far darker than his own?
Review
I downloaded this free from Amazon Kindle a few months ago and finally decided to read it. It was a decent enough premise, but it really could have been so much better. The ideas are there, but the heroine is so weak when she’s supposed to be kick-ass, and the writing in places needs drastic improvement, as does the editing.
But let’s start with the heroine. Ravin is apparently bad-ass, and has killed a lot of vampires during her vendetta, including on Nikolaus Drake. Nikolaus miraculously survived her poisonous blood and gradually heals, nurturing a nasty yearning for revenge at the same time. He wants the witch bitch dead and he’ll stop at nothing. Well, except the accidental ingestion of a love spell, which halts him in his tracks.
The moment Ravin casts the love spell on the big bad vampire, making him into her love puppy, things go drastically downhill. She’s throwing herself at him every opportunity she has. Considering how heavily we’re told in this book that witches and vampires HATE each other with a capital everything, and how she’s supposed to be on this mighty vendetta against all vampires, including the hero who she has unsuccessfully attempted to kill, she’s damn quick to be tossing herself into his arms. She barely fights against him, letting him have his way, which more often than not ends in her bed and makes her rather vapid as a heroine. We’re told in the story that the spell didn’t affect her, so why isn’t she at putting up a bit of a struggle against the hero? Or perhaps staking the bastard the moment he goes all lovey-dovey?
I was severely disappointed by the heroine. Can you tell? I hate it when they throw aside their principles and everything they stood for, and then throw themselves at the hero (even when he’s her deadliest enemy) without any trace of reason or any apparent change in her values.
Also, found a few wrong words and editing glitches, which just shows that no author is infallible, including published ones. My favourite was the word snuggly in place of snugly.
This book could have been superb with a stronger heroine, the one we’re promised at the start. I’ll forgive the hero, because he does go nasty vampire again once the spell is lifted, but then slowly realises that he loves the witch after all, but I can’t really forgive the heroine.
If you have this book for free too, then it’s probably worth the read but I wouldn’t force yourself, and don’t expect something amazing.
Read reviews of Kiss Me Deadly on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/672843.Kiss_Me_Deadly_Silhouette_Nocturne_
