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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Reluctant Vampire


The Reluctant Vampire: An Argeneau Novel by author Lynsay Sands is the latest book in her Argeneau Vampires series. Lynsay has been a hit or miss author for me over the years. I have found several of her stories so wonderfully exciting that I keep going back to her, but every other book happens to fall flat. This story is one of those times...dull with no character development. :(

Plot:

Has this immortal finally met her match?

Rogue hunter Drina Argenis (from the Spanish side of the Argeneau family) has been many things in her years as an immortal, but bodyguard/babysitter to a teenage vampire is something new. There's an incentive, however: the other vampsitter, Harper Stoyan, may be Drina's life mate.


Trouble is, having just lost a life mate, Harper is resigned to being alone. He's completely unprepared when sexy and unpredictable Drina bursts into his life to reignite his passions. Can Drina, with a little matchmaking help from their teen charge, tempt this reluctant vampire to take a chance?

Or will a dangerous, unseen renegade kill Drina and Harper's one chance at happiness?


Maybe I'm just not a fan of family novels, but with so much talk about shopping trips and making meals etc, I had to wonder were all the action went? Sucked through a worm hole maybe. Pages and pages of filler and nothing that grabbed hold of me. I don't really care who puts on who's boots or inter-character debates about what car to drive. I want an exciting story that can suck me in like with Sands other novel The Renegade Hunter. That book was fantastic! Anything that got almost exciting in this story turned out to be a false alarm. It felt very mushy around the edges for my tastes.


Here are a few specific examples of what I'm talking about. Harper lost his wife a year ago and is "reluctant" about having a new life mate. I was expecting to see a lot more in his character, but only a few pages pass with him feeling any guilt whatsoever! Almost immediately, Bam! He wants to rip Drina's cloths off and get down to it. As the story progresses, several attacks are taking place against the vamps who are supposed to be protecting a teenage girl. Our hunter Drina doesn't get around to investigating these attacks. In fact, all the tuff stuff alluded to from her past end up never being used in the story! What happened? An immortal who used to be a gladiator and pirate turns into a kitten over night? She was completely soft and reliant on others. The only redeeming thing about this story was the romance between Harper and Drina, but that aside the plot and characters were just a waste of time.


Unfortunately this book is lacking so much I can't really recommend it to anyone. I'd say pick up The Renegade Hunter instead. I have to point out that after all this, I wont give up. I'm still holding out for other gems in the series.


Getting 1 and 1/2 Skunk Sheep

KD


10 comments:

  1. I think I'll take your advice and try another book in this series if I ever do give it a try.

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  2. Sometimes this happens in a series. Some hit the mark and some don't. Thanks for the review!

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  3. I'm glad that someone else has the "hit or miss" opinion. Thanks for the review!

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  4. This writer has really dragged me over the coals the last few years. It's like there be a majorly great story (almost epic) and then something really awful. With nothing in between....that said I will still read her work but with a lot more caution.

    Thanks for the comments everyone, glad to help. :)

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  5. I was hoping this got a good review. I know that some people feel this way about some of the books in this series. Either really good or really bad. I loved The Renegade Hunter!

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  6. I will have to check out The Renegade Hunter. Thanks for sharing today.

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  7. Well, it has an awesome cover :p

    (useless comment alert!)

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  8. heehee, Joleene, you are too funny . It is an awesome cover. Thanks for commenting :)

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  9. @Megan I really wanted to read another hit from Sands, but it was far from it imo. And that really sucks, but I will keep giving her more chances. :)

    If anyone else has some other recommendations of winners in this series please feel free to leave comments! xoxoxo

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  10. The Reluctant Vampire has the feel of the earlier Argeneau books with the main focus being on the romance. Before Drina ever meets Harper, a lot of emphasis is put on how hard it will be for her to convince him that he should give their relationship a chance. In actuality I found there to be a little resistance at first but Harper didn't have nearly as much fight in him when it came to accepting his new lifemate as others kept saying there would be. Their relationship was sweet and there were several sexy moments between the two that left them naked and unconscious on the floor. Separate I found Harper to be cute but nothing too extraordinarily. Drina on the other hand I absolutely loved and she was the highlight of this book for me. She had confidence in her self and her ability to bring Harper to his knees, she's innovative in the unusual professions she's chosen in her life in order to be on her own, she's sexy without trying and her sympathy and dedication to a girl she just met showed how deep her emotions run. Not to mention she's a rogue hunter and can fight along side the best of her kind. A really great heroine all around.

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