Customer Reviews

Blood Bargain (Blood Lines, Book 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With almost absolutely no romance and very little plot line that actually advances this series Blood Bargain was a bit disappointing after such a good start to the series. The writing is still good, though there's more than a little politics dashed in. I happened to agree with most of it but still didn't think it was always appropriate to the storyline.

Basically Keira Kelly, whose still going though a sluggish change from powerless supernatural to the selection of her defined powers, and her shifter brother spend the whole book traveling around Rio Seco, Texas setting things right even though they aren't usually involved in the situations. No progress is made between Keira and powerful vampire Adam, who plays a weak role in this book.The suspenseful part in the graveyard is very creepy but the end of the book leaves you with a cliffhanger which you partially see way off. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this series off at all. But I'm just saying this one was kinda blah and I'm hoping for better things next time, which I'm sure the author will deliver.

I very much enjoyed 'Matters of the Blood', the first in this series (in fact an extract from my review is printed in the front of this second book). However I was a little disappointed by Blood Bargain.

There's nothing actually wrong with the story - it's a continuation of the vampire/shapeshifter/sidhe-themed story of Keira Kelly, a woman who has just started her Change and isn't sure yet what her powers will be; will she be a shapeshifter like her father, a sidhe like her mother, or something else altogether? She's living with Adam Walker, chief Vampire and owner of the Wild Moon Ranch, but she's beginning to worry about him. Adam is getting weaker and weaker and insists on surviving on animal, not human, blood.

Keira's thoughts are very much taken with Adam's health and yet she also finds herself investigating the disappearance of a Mexican man several months before, at the behest of his brother. Her searches seem to be uncovering a tale of missing people, and when four young people from the town of Rio Seco go missing, there is far more urgency. Is there some link to the strange angel statue at a cemetery near the Wild Moon Ranch? And could there even be some link to Adam's failing health?

As I was reading this book I had no idea where the plot was actually going. It was certainly not predictable, and the resolution of the mysteries was a bit of a surprise. It was also a slightly unusual read in that the hero of the previous book, Adam, had a minimal part to play in this story; instead, the foil for Keira was her hellhound brother, Tucker. It's also interesting that Keira has not yet come into her powers so, despite being supernatural, there's not a great deal extra she can do over the humans around her.

Although I enjoyed reading this book I felt it somehow didn't have as much as an impact as the previous book and that the plot lacked the ability to really grab my attention. It was well-written, however, and the setting of a small Texas town made a change from the usual big-city vampire tale.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I can't actually pan this book, because it grabed my attention from the beginning, and I had no trouble finishing it. It was a pleasant read. Part of what interested me in the begining was that the protagonist was part faery and part smething else. Also, it was explained that she was at first unwilling to date the vampire because she thought he was human, and she didn't date humans. I kind of like the interaction of different species and magic systems, and I thought this would be an interewsting twist on the vampire romance.
While the book never lost me completely, it didn't quite live up to it's potential. I never got an adequate explanation of what her father's species were supposed to be, or how they differed from the sidhe. (This might have been because I accidentally started the series in the middle). The protagonist's father's species was a bit of a species wide "Mary Sue". They were all strengths and no weaknesses, they accepted all of the values of modern 20th century young liberal New Englanders (acceptance of homosexuality, alternative living situations, the Right to Die, etc.) even though most of them were men raised amidst humans in the middle ages or 19th century, when one would think they would have absorbed some somewhat sexist attitudes. These too perfect "Kellys" are contrasted with stereotypical, sexist, homophobic Texans in a way which is a bit heavy handed. At times it feels like the author is working down a checklist, establishing her acceptance of all of the attitudes of the democratic party. (Gay Rights? Check. Immigration Reform? Check.) I also dislike how vampires were given all of the traditional strengths of vampires without the traditional weaknesses. The vampire love interest almost seems to have turned vegetarian, for goodness sake. (This vampire love interest seemed a bit of a useless putz)
There was a minor subplot involving relatives wanting the main character to have kids, and disliking her relationship with the vampire because "dead men can't have kids". Actually, this plot could have been interesting, except that the protagonist had attitudes that would be perfectly acceptable in the real world, but were a bit problematic in this fantasy context. It is perfectly OK for someone in our world to decide to not have kids because we are in no imminent danger of running out of people. However, the protagonist's mother comes from a Dying Race that presumably may run out of people, and their is a kind of Dynastic political system that makes the protagonist's decision affect people other than her. (Once you create the rules in a fantasy context, it limits what real world issues you can plausibly bring into the story). As a matter of fact, in the scenario they set up, the Star Crossed Lovers decision to shack up seems to affect the lives of a lot of subordinates. When the vampire moved to Texas, he took a horde of vassels with him, uprooting them so he could pursue romance. The heroine also seems to be somewhat callous about the fates of those who are essentially her helpless vassals.
Finally, the ending of the book was not terribly satisfying. I read this kind of book in part for the satisfying "monster slaying" endings, but I am not convinced anything real was accomplished in the end.

Rio Seco, Texas is a small town that is becoming yuppie-fied, but Keira Kelly still calls it home. Even though she keeps an apartment in town, Keira lives with the vampire tribal head Adam Walker on his Wild Moon ranch. She is also a supernatural being and is beginning the Change that will eventually turn her into a shapeshifter like her six half brothers, a healer or a necromancer witch. Watching over her as she Changes is her twelve century old sibling Tucker who is the lover of Adam's second in command Niko.

Things are not going well in town. Four teens have vanished and an illegal alien working on a nearby ranch also disappeared a few months ago. Keira hears whispers and her visions are becoming stronger. Her troubles don't end there because something is wrong with Adam as he sleeps from dawn to dusk. After a six hour nap he rejects sex with her. He lapses into a coma from not drinking blood. Keira is determined to find out what happened to the missing people and help Adam return to his senses even at the forfeit of her life as she would rather die than be without him.

Urban fantasy fans are going to love this romantic fantasy especially the Kelly clan, an extended family of supernaturals living within human society. Each of the major characters is fascinating and readers will particularly appreciate Tucker who was a Viking warrior who can shift into wolf. The mysteries and the town enhance BLOOD BARGAIN, a strong tale that fans of Kelly Armstrong and Kim Harrison will want to read.

Harriet Klausner

Not bad as a mystery novel, but there's a tendency for supernatural characters to act exactly natural 99% of the time. That gives one the impression that something like a mystery novel was modified to fit the vampire-shifter genre after the fact, without paying much attention to all the minute-by-minute differences there'd realistically be. (If "realistic" is a word we can use for such creatures!)

Only read it cuz I bought it.. It was pretty dull--not enough dialogue between characters...Was excited to see how the Vampire relationship would progress, but never happened.. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I picked up book one (Matters of the Blood) based on good reviews. It showed some potential, so I immediately checked #2 (Blood Bargain) & #3 (Blood Kin) out of my library. I read them together, so I will review them together also.

What worked. Maria Lima has a readable writing style and the overall storyline had potential.

What didn't work for me? Just about everything else. The heroine is a self confessed 'trust fund baby'. Which sounds more interesting than reality. Neither the heroine nor her boyfriend display much personality, rather blah people. Although the heroine brags that she differs from other trust fund brats b/c she has an actual job...we never really see her job. In fact she doesn't even solve the mystery/crisis/situation, just mills around until the situation resolves itself. After reading the first three books in the series, I cannot figure out what the heroine does with all her time. In book two she does a few daytime errands for her nocturnal vampire boyfriend. She has sex with the boyfriend (when he's awake), lunch with the girlfriend, and the reader is left to speculate what she does the rest of the time.

The most interesting characters (about the only interesting characters) in these books are Keira's brother, Tucker, and his vampire boyfriend. Almost without exception, everyone mentioned is into 'serial monogamy'... everyone...(eyeroll), both human and non-humans. I have deep reservations about characters aged in excess of 1,000 years, it's not a plot device I find believable nor desirable (unless the character is insane)... and this series has lots of very old characters. The heroine has a couple ex-boyfriends that are discussed much more often than necessary, they are 'on-stage' more often than the current beau (unfortunately).

Inconsistencies, the most memorable being the heroine coming into these 'awesome' powers. Which quickly becomes a confusing jumble of 'will she', 'won't she', and 'what will she become'? The storyline says one thing, does another, generally inconsistent all around and quickly becomes just another annoyance factor.

And then there's the factual errors (do some authors live in a cave?). The heroine prepares to travel from the Southwest US to Western Canada, and considers which passport to travel on (and leads us to believe she has more than 2 choices). Frankly, I've traveled to Canada several times...and until recently (before these books were written) US citizens didn't require passports to travel into or out of Canada, only valid ID. The author mentions Canadian customs stamping the passport *raspberries* IME a total error, my passport(when used)has never been stamped when crossing that border (either direction).

By book three, I'm awash in factual errors, boring characters milling around smartly, and an unbelievable mix of misunderstandings, missed communications, extended periods of major communications outages *did I mention eyerolls?*, dialogue sets a scene to do one thing then out of the blue the reader discovers something totally different happened, and other annoying plot devices.

I thought book one had interesting potential, despite the flaws already apparent. Book two continued to magnify the flaws, and by book three...I waded through the first third with numerous eyerolls, skimmed the second third, then tossed the unfinished book under my bed to languish with the dust bunnies until it was due to be returned to the library.

If you like bland, name-dropping, party-snob, rich people pretending to live like 'the folks' this could be the series for you. Otherwise, there's much better paranormal fiction available. So glad I didn't actually invest money in this series.

Keira Kelly has finally settled into her happily ever after
with her vampire lover Adam Walker, but what is she do when
he starts starving himself of blood because he is repudiate
about who he truly is? She has to try and find a way to
persuade him to save himself before he grows weaker and its
too late. When people start mysteriously disappearing, Keira
begins to worry about the safety of her little town, Rio
Seco, and if it will jeopardize Wild Moon Ranch, Adam's
vampire inhabited inn. As she starts investigating more into
the situation, she encounters some dilemmas and one
important clue directs her to the abandoned cemetery that is
a significant piece of her magical heritage. Will Keira be
able to stop the evil that is lurking in the dark corners of
Rio Seco, Texas, or will it find her first and destroy
everything she has worked hard to create?

Blood Bargain is
a marvelous story about the love a girl has for her family,
town and companion. This story is the sequel to the first
book of the Blood Lines Series, Matters of the Blood. There
is enough tension and suspense to keep you on the edge of
your seat and wanting it to never end. Every turn of the
page was something unexpected. The characters kept the story
funny and interesting while serious at times to create a
fabulous read.


Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer
Flamingnet Book Reviews
Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

This is an interesting new series with unexpected twists. A bit of mystery walking side by side with paranormal. Well worth reading.

Kiera Kelly's world of fae, shape shifters using magic and vampires expands and unfolds in her second novel. She finds that she has to fight for what she wants. The characters build and take shape while a really good mystery comes to life. Kiera is of a supernatural family were members come into their powers around the time of human middle age. But Kiera is changing early and she doesn't know why. Her family is made up of shape shifters, necromancers, witches and healers and more. She has no idea what she will end up being, but others due. You really need to read all three of her Blood Lines novels in order. It's a fun ride that turns into a supernatural soap opera. I'm looking forward to Maria Lima'a next installment.