Review--Night's Cold Kiss (NEW)

FOR CENTURIES WAR RAGED BETWEEN THE HUMANS AND THE AETERNUS VAMPIRES--UNTIL COURAGEOUS EFFORTS ON BOTH SIDES FORGED A FRAGILE PEACE.

BUT THE ROGUE NECRODRENIACS WILL NEVER BE CONTROLLED--ADDICTED AS THEY ARE TO THE DEATH-HIGH...AND BLOODY CHAOS.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race--even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance--even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

Okay, I decided to write a new review on Night's Cold Kiss. Or at least post different comments on it or whatever since I have the time. My book is in the area and I am awaiting the call from the store. It looks like it will be here Wednesday and not earlier like I had hoped. Oh well.

This was Tracey O'Hara's debut novel and the second time around was just as fascinating as the first! I forgot some of the finer details to the story. There was a lot of shock and intrigue involved that was really dramatic. But in a good way.

From my first review here, I talked a little about this and that. So basically I'll just expand on some of those thoughts. The plot was well driven and paced. Told in third person, it allows us basically to be with Antoinette and Christian and sometimes one of the other characters. I love these characters. Antoinette is a fierce warrior type in the beginning but as the story moves forward we see more to her character and we learn that even the toughest of warriors have their weak spots. Antoinette has some hidden emotions that we're not aware of from page 1.

Lately Antoinette has been having a few bad dreams about her mother's murder and while working she has sworn she seen the murderer, even though he was supposed to be dead. Her father had killed him. But Antoinette's world is about to be rudely shattered as everything she has ever known about everything, just about, is about to change. Her views on vampires--Aeternus, in this matter--are challenged when she is forced to work with Christian and his friend Viktor.

Antoinette still has a strong prejudice against vampires in general because she sees them as the things that tore her family apart. Her mother murdered, and her father killed later on. So her hate is understandable, yet she still takes her anger out on the ones who have done nothing untoward to her. Her undying prejudice is a bit annoying because we see this today in the real world for the same reasons. Being wronged by someone and hating everyone of that race, Aeternus or Necrodreniac. They are all the same to Antoinette, but she is about to learn that there is a difference and her reasons for her judgments were wrong.

Antoinette grows and learns, making her much more likable. If her prejudices held throughout the book, it wouldn't have been the same story. One thing that did bug me was just how fast the romance started, but again that's just me and my opinions. Most people I know who read similar things like romance.

The story takes many surprising turns, again as I tend to say, I won't divulge in them. There are quite a few of them and not all are wonderful. Won't go further.

The characters are quite likable too and some not so much. Christian's mother, Lilijana is just full of surprises. That woman is an unstoppable force that is not to be reckoned with. Christian's friend Viktor is lovable as well, he's the comic relief of the hostility between Christian and Antoinette. He was by far my favorite secondary character! Another interesting one was Valerica, Viktor's sister and Christian's former lover. She was the clingy jealous ex, but she played her part well. Oberon was another surprising character who stepped in and helped out, even though you wanted to slug him upon first meeting him, but that does tend to happen with some characters!

The ending was enjoyable as well. While the mystery was tied up to some extent, there is definitely room for more development. Because as I said earlier, there are a lot of surprises. And those will take us to new places in further novels. Which I have some info taken from Tracey's website regarding the next book, finally!

The second book in the Dark Brethren series is Death's Sweet Embrace. It unfortunately doesn't release until January 25, 2011. Here's the BOC found on the website as well:

After thousands of years of secret conflict, humans and parahumans have reached an uneasy truce. But unspeakable evil now threatens to shatter the tenuous peace.

Teenaged shapeshifters are being slaughtered by a twisted, sadistic serial killer who rips their still-beating hearts from their paralyzed bodies. A task force must be formed to halt the madness—a union of avengers including the vampiric Aeternus, Christian Laroque and Antoinette Petrescu, as well as Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, members of enemy Animalian tribes…and forbidden lovers.

A centuries-old blood feud has divided their peoples—pitting wolf against snow leopard in a battle to the death—and if their passion is discovered it will doom them both. But past hostilities must be put aside in light of the scourge that is now upon them. For the killer they seek is but the first sign of a blossoming terror rising up from their long-buried pasts: the all-consuming nightmare of The Dark Brethren.

**Will post the cover once it's been released and I find it! :)