Deadly Desire (A Riley Jenson Guardian Novel) [Hardcover]

Keri Arthur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2009

paranormal; urban fantasy; romance; vampire; werewolf

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam; Probable Book Club edition (2009)
• ISBN-10: 1607518910
• ISBN-13: 978-1607518914
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,667,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Keri Arthur has been nominated in the Best Contemporary Paranormal category of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards, and recently won RT's Career Achievement Award for Urban Fantasy. She lives with her daughter in Melbourne, Australia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deadly Desire, April 11, 2009

By 

C. CROSS (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

It took me a little while to get into this book, maybe because it had been so long since I read the last Riley book that I just felt disconnected from the world, or because Riley just isn't out there almost getting killed every two seconds in this one. Whatever the reason, it may read a bit slow to some in comparison to the others in the series. BUT, oh lordy, Ms Arthur makes up for it in the end!

Riley is investigating not just a series of vampire killings (its the vamps being offed) but a series of zombie killings (the zombies are doing the offing). All of it smack dab in the middle of the full moon. Needless to say Riley gets herself into a spot of trouble. She is trying to juggle time with her super hawt vampire lover Quinn into her case load, and is actually doing a pretty good job, but is distracted by the appearance of bounty hunter Kye into the mix. This unlikeable (or so Riley tries to tell herself) werewolf keeps turning up, setting Riley into a hormonal twist.

I definitely recommend this book, while not as action packed as previous books, this one has a few emotional and personal discoveries for Riley that will have you hopping up and down waiting for the next installment!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Deadly Disappointment, April 2, 2009

By 

A. Williamson "williaak" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Riley Jenson, Guardian novels cross the fantasy genre with paranormal romance, and Deadly Desire somehow gets lost in the translation.

The premise of Riley's world is unique and interesting, set in modern-day Australia where supernaturals live among humans and are policed by a Directorate of Guardians (a combination James Bond/Navy SEAL squad comprised of supernatural races including vampires and werewolves). Unfortunately, the protagonist Riley Jenson, who is a rare werewolf-vampire hybrid with expanding psychic talents, has a host of annoying personality traits that make it very difficult for readers to take her seriously as a skilled investigator.

Riley's promiscuity is written into the core story as a preoccupation of werewolves due to "moon heat" and often dominates her limited investigatory skills. Additionally, every male character with the exception of her boss Jack and her twin brother Rhoan and his partner Liander, are essentially interchangeable: stereotypical hunks with different hair and eye color. With few exceptions, all of these physically perfect men eventually or immediately become Riley's lovers in the context of each new investigation. Often, the prose is literally recycled in each book with phrases like "kaleidoscope of sensations" and "happy hormones" that make repetitive appearances in all 7 books to date! Riley's investigations largely consist of wisecracking with CSU workers at murder scenes, chasing suspects around the city, and going undercover at exotic locations, which often serve to further her expanding collection of lovers.

Deadly Desire opens with Riley pursing a murder suspect while grousing to herself about the interruption to her sex life with on-again off-again vampire lover Quinn. Riley tails the suspect to an abandoned warehouse where she bumps into Kye, a werewolf bounty hunter paid to find the killer by a victim's parents. Their suspect turns out to be a zombie reanimated by magic who is controlled by a black crow--a shapeshifter who gets away--and who looses a pack of hellhounds on Riley and Kye. Thus begins the investigation of why vampires are being murdered in Melbourne.

Riley's case is constantly thwarted by Kye, who also frustrates her personal life, as their mutual attraction interferes with Riley's intention to remain faithful to Quinn. When a prominent vampire and friend of the head of the Directorate is murdered and a witness fingers a stripper as a possible suspect, Riley goes undercover at (where else?) a strip club. Kye shows up to conduct his own investigation which includes a lap dance from Riley and hints that this werewolf is not all he seems.

While the story itself could serve as a stand-alone in the series, Riley's preoccupation with men and her attractions to her workmates overwhelm her investigation, and the prose in relation to the ever-present love scenes (at times) reaches the level of soft-core porn as opposed to mainstream fiction, or even mainstream romance. Riley's continuing quest for her soulmate becomes a major factor in this story by book's end.

Readers who enjoy erotica will be delighted by the steamy content of Deadly Desire, but for those who prefer more of a focus on police procedural urban fantasy may want to look elsewhere.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deadly Desire, January 8, 2010

By 

Ithlilian "Ravenous Reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Riley Jensen series has been one of my favorites for a while. Unfortunately, the last few novels haven't wowed me. It's feels like Riley is talking about the same issues in every novel. She will be in grave danger and she will never be happy with Quinn because he's not a werewolf. Her thinking is very one dimensional, and she hasn't grown much as a character from novel one. She is still lusting after random strangers when she has a man at home, and frankly it's starting to get old. The series is getting entirely too predictable. I assume in the next novel she will get into danger, somehow manage to get out of it, and Quinn will stick with her. Personally, I'm starting to think he deserves better than Riley, since he will never be enough for her. Even if she were to stop lusting after other men and be with Quinn, I still think she would flirt with her colleagues, and it's just not an attractive trait. I guess I hoped Riley would grow up, but that may never happen. The mysteries and the danger are interesting, and I still enjoy the plots of the books, but there may be a point when my dislike for Riley makes me not want to continue reading.