Customer Reviews

Dead Sexy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

For those of you who read romantic vampire fiction, you know that lately the books have been either very good or very bad. This is one of those in the very bad category. It tries to ride of the coattails of Laurell K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake series books by having the heroine (Regan) be an ex-vampire hunter who catches the fancy of the vampire Master of the City (Joaquin). The setting is the USA sometime in the future, a time when, we're told, colonies exist on other planets. Regan is now out of a job because vampires have been declared an endangered species and are restricted to specific urban enclaves. Humans are being brutally murdered in the park in the vampire enclave and the police are stumped.

Where to start, where to start...

This universe is supposed to be some future America, and given the rapid changes that have occurred in our own culture as a result of the space program to-date, it seems that this universe's sole nod to the future is that they use "credits" for money, TV is know as the "Satellite Screen", and Regan has a "robot coffee maker" (I kid you not) in her home. Otherwise, the setting could be - oh, I don't know - America 2007? The author couldn't even be bothered, it seems, create a coherent future universe (much less unique terminology) for her story setting. If you are going to set a story in a future universe, at least make it a believable one; other authors seem to have no difficulty doing that.

Now, we have the character of Regan herself. She's out of a job because of the change in the status of the vampires, but we're told that in the past she was an active vampire hunter and has killed them, using the usual extreme prejudice ways. We are given a facile reason why she became a vampire hunter (the usual avenging a dead friend) but not much more than that. She is also now a consultant on vampire crimes for the police (Oh, Anita!). However, whenever Regan sees blood, especially when she sees vampires drinking the synthetic blood they now survive on, she feels her "bile rising". She is called in to consult on a number of murders (I was already losing track of the number of them) that were killed exactly the same way - throat slashed, certain organs removed. As far as I could tell, there was absolutely no reason for her to be called in, because she provided no information, clues, what-have-you, whatsoever to the police. She came, she looked, she left. What was the point of any of that? I still don't know. The author couldn't seem to decide if she wanted Regan to be a kick-@ss or fragile. As a result, her character ping-ponged all over the emotional spectrum.

Then there is the push-pull of her relationship with Joaquin, the MOTC. Of course, she's strongly attracted to him, of course she's horrified by her attraction, of course he loves her immediately, of course there's a normal human guy who's also attracted to her but who's much further down on her Lust-O-Meter. But it's all superficial; there is no real wrestling with her conscience about the relationship - it's more of an "eek, what am I doing lusting over a vampire" kind of thing. When Regan worries, for example, if Joaquin (currently spending the day under the motel bed to avoid the sun) is going to use some "special vampire vision" to see her "through the bedspread" as she undresses for bed, you've got to wonder if the author has forgotten who her character is supposed to be and has confused her with a 12-year old girl. For a person who is supposed to be an expert on vampires, she shows very little intellectual curiosity about them, nor does her attitude evolve in any logical fashion.

As if there wasn't enough mishmash in this book, we also have vengeful werewolves, a Native American shaman, and, oh yes, the Lakota nation which has been granted full nation status and given the Badlands as their sovereign territory, not to mention a werewolf enclave in Romania. I'm still wondering why a storekeeper warned Regan and Joaquin to stay away from the Lakota lands, apparently completely ignoring the fact that Joaquin (an ancient Apache vampire (insert an eye-roll here)) was described as copper-skinned, dark-eyed, and with long black hair. Now to me, if I were the storekeeper, I would have found out first if Joaquin was, just perhaps, Native American himself first.

Now, you may say that I am too harsh in this review, that is is meant as just a light read, but I take exception to an author who seemingly just phones in a book, one that seems to have been assembled by tossing ideas into a hat and pulling out a handful of them. I take exception to a flaming romance between people who have no idea or understanding of who the other actually is. I take exception to paying good money for this book, and for the time I wasted reading it, hoping that something would redeem it.

If you absolutely must read this book, buy it used. Hopefully the author's other books are better than this, but this is one reader who won't be wasting her time with them. There are just way too many better books out there, by authors who respect the readers' intelligence in the same fashion we're supposed to respect theirs.

What is going on with the paranormal/vampire romance writers these days? Are they all dried up and time to move on? Another big big big disappointment yet again and right after the big one from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream Hunter too. I had to force myself to finish Dead Sexy with a pot of coffee. I felt as if I was reading a text book. Why did I force myself to finish this? Because I don't want to have to pick it up again and finish it later. Like the previous reviewer, the chemistry was just so flat. Romance in the paranormal world is suppose to be earth shaking with fireworks and explosives. You see none of that in this. I don't mean I want to read page after pages of sex but I at least want to see some romance and how love was develope between the hero and heroine. As for the storyline, I felt as if I missed something. As if there was suppose to be a story before this that explain things. I even thought I skipped a book. I love Amanda Ashley's book, everyone of them before this one. I never felt so bored before with the others. Come on Mrs. Ashley, what happen?

I completely agree with MayFayre, so I will try not to repeat. I will add that Regan is a virgin. There are virtually no sex scenes in this book and what little action there is is interrupted over and over again so you can predict the outcome of each attempt, until the end where the joining falls flat. The reason for the lack of heat is that Regan detests vampires for one and she is saving herself for her husband, so her virginity will be her gift to him. How touching. I am not condemning the "wait until you find the right one" attitude, but that is not why I read vampire romances. I would hope a worldly vampire would be attracted to a woman (not a girl) who will fire up his and the reader's blood (pardon the pun) and steam up the windows. Why else am I interested in these books. This one has certainly no excitement, no mystery or any other qualities that could make this worth reading, so why not redeem it with hot steamy sex. Guess the writer didn't want to bother to have to think too much about any of this story and it shows. I would not purchase this book, new, used or even borrowed from the library unless you want to waste your time. Life is short and each read should be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Save your time and money and read Lindsay Sands, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Angela Knight, Robin Popp, etc., but stay away from Laurel Hamilton!

Ugh. This book was bad. I knew it was going to be bad when the ex-vampire hunter, Regan, is walking toward her car after dark in the park (where vampires roam free) and is afraid. Afraid? I'm sorry, but if a heroine is going to be billed as an ex-vampire hunter, I don't want to read within the first few pages that she's scared to walk to her car alone in the dark. I must admit that I only made it half-way through this book. There was no believable reason for Joaquin to feel so strongly toward Regan. The whole story just seemed flat, underdeveloped, and shallow. And then when the werewolf bite happened and she was all, yeah, let's go to South Dakota on a whim, I was done.

I had read another Amanda Ashley vampire romance (historical) and thought it wasn't bad. But this one was very poorly written. And word to the poster who mentioned Regan's "robot coffeemaker". Cringeworthy.

This was my first Amanda Ashley book and I liked it very much. Looks like from reviewers that people either love the story or hate it. Doesn't look like there is anything in between! I liked the characters and how the story unfolded. I will check out other books by this author.

I love a good vampire story. The charactors are great in this book. amanda ashley has really done her research. The way she discribes the charactors and their life is amazing

I must say that I have to totally disagree with the reviews on this one. I found it highly entertaining. I liked the idea of a werewolf villain who kidnaps Regan to be his mate leaving her cursed to be a werewolf so that Joaquin and her had to find the cure. I found it amusing that this story takes place in the future and that vampires are now considered an endangered species and the heroine being a retired vampire hunter. This was a wonderful story and kept me turning the pages until the end.

I liked it, the story line was great and fun.
I sometimes just want to hurt the main girl in this book, she just wined to must. She just couldn't make up her mind. That was the only reason I did not give this book 5 stars.

I bought this book at a store out of impulse . Biggest mistake ever! I should've come to Amazon first and read the reviews. But I learned my lesson. That said, this is the crappiest vampire story I have ever read. It jumps from furturistic America to the Wild Wild West (if you're prone to seizures STAY AWAY FROM IT!) Things like the robot coffee maker and satellite screen make you feel you're reading The Jetsons' biography. I haven't finished the book yet, ohh but I will, just to see how bad it gets. At least the model on the cover is worth the 5 stars, too bad he was chosen for the cover of THIS book.

quick response on the book I purchased. Quality of the book was as stated, The author is a very good writer.