Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter

Title: Flesh and Blood
Author: Kristen Painter
Series: House of Comarré, #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit (Imprint of Hachette)
Date Published: November 1st, 2011
Edition: Paperback
Rating:

With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle’s life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She’s vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who’s trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organisation designed to protect mankind — the Kubai Mata.

And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what’s left of her life will never be the same.

My Review:

Like with the first book in the series, my rating for this one seems to be middle of the road. It’s not so much that I didn’t enjoy it because I definitely did, but it’s still missing that extra oomph to make it to four stars for me.

The main problem with this one was that it starts off right where the first book left off and it doesn’t do a whole lot of recap on who’s who and what’s going on. It’s been close to a year since I read the first book so the recap would’ve been good since I had trouble at the beginning remembering what was going on and who all the people are in relation to Chrysabelle.

Despite that though, once I got back into the swing of the story I really enjoyed it. I find it interesting that this is an adult urban fantasy and it doesn’t have much sex. I’m not complaining. I mean I like sex in books, but it’s also kind of refreshing to read a book that doesn’t revolve around it too. I’m kind of impressed that Kristen Painter manages to keep me interested without so much of that. But there is sexual tension going on, don’t get me wrong.

Which brings me to the first really interesting thing I want to talk about. It could be a bad or a good thing depending on your preferences. But in this one a love triangle ensues. At first I wasn’t so sure about it. I like the new guy introduced but I like Mal better. But then, something very curious started to happen. By the end of this book it almost seems as if the guys are both willing to share Chrysabelle. Hmm…I don’t know if I’d mind that so much. lol I mean, how many times have you read about a love triangle and just wished you could keep both guys. So anyways, that should be interesting to see how that develops.

The plot was good and I like that it’s keeping with the same or similar villains, it keeps a good connection throughout the books. Like with the first book there were times when it was a bit slower-paced, but I still found myself enjoying the world overall and not too upset about being inside it even during those slower times.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. If you’re a fan of vampire urban fantasy I’d definitely check it out. It’s not my favorite urban fantasy, but it is a cool world to jump into from time to time.

Read more reviews & Buy it up!