Customer Reviews

Demon Moon (The Guardians, Book 2)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Brook's second in the new Guardian series brings a fresh look at the tired vampire genre. Colin, a man so beautiful even men can't help but stare, is a 200 year old vampire. He was made by a nosferatu and therefore cannot exchange blood with other vampires, as is the standard in their society. Instead he goes out and feeds on humans. For vampires, blood and sex are inextricably intertwined.

Savitri Murray is an intensely curious woman whose thirst for knowledge get her in trouble. When Colin and Savi were thrown together during a previous battle with Lucifer, they engaged in an intimate encounter which both regret and long to re-enact. Colin cannot have Savi for he cannot feed from her enough to survive. Savi cannot be turned because she was infected by Hellhound venom and the intermixing of the two bloods could kill her.

Throw in a battle against the nosferatu, some vampire politics in which Colin has no interest and this is a smart read for paranormal romance fans.

There was a wonderful mirroring between Colin's sister and her husband's marriage and Colin and Savi's decision on how they can be together. This book has all the elements of a great romance: strong, vibrant characters; rich and fully developed world building; hot, steamy love scenes; and an tender romantic ending.

Stunning as a mortal, Colin Ames-Beaumont took on an unearthly male beauty when he became a vampire centuries ago. Cursed with tainted blood, he is doomed to spend eternity without a companion, without love of his own. But even for vampires, the heart wants what it wants, and Colin has long been intrigued by the quirky Savitri Murray. Her breathtaking honesty and unconventional beauty have held his attention far longer than most women, but combined with that intoxicating scent of hers, he finds Savi completely irresistible...

Savitri has promised her grandmother she will settle down with a suitable boy. But what suitable boy wants a bride who finds herself battling demons and Nosferatu day after day? And then there is that pesky, undeniable desire she feels for that persistent vampire...

Demon Moon is the second book I have read in Meljean Brook's The Guardians series. As with the first book in this series, I liked the lead characters, was intrigued by the plot, and was interested to see how the book finished. Also like the first book in this series, I found the pacing of the story to be extremely slow. In the first book, I had hoped that the slow pacing could be attributed to the world building that Brook had to accomplish to set up the series, but with this fourth edition of her saga, the world building is complete, for the most part.

I can't say I didn't like the story, because that simply isn't true. I enjoyed The Guardians world enough, but the cumbersome pace has made me hesitant to read either the second or third books in this series, although both are novellas that are contained in anthologies which I already own. While I was interested in the story, it never quite gripped me, and I found myself distracted time and again by outside influences. Usually, I absorb so completely in a book that I block the world out, forgetting things like eating and sleeping until I have finished reading the book.

Ms. Brook has a wonderful imagination and the ability to develop some very intriguing characters. I definitely think she is an author I will want to pick up again in the future, after she has a few more novels under her belt.

Series Order:
Hot Spell (The Guardians, Book 1) (The Breed Next Door) (The Countess's Pleasure) (The Blood Kiss)(Falling For Anthony)
Demon Angel (The Guardians, Book 2)
Wild Thing
Demon Moon (The Guardians, Book 4) (Berkley Sensation)
Demon Night

Demon Moon is as complex and compelling as Brook's first book in this series. Where as in Demon Angel, we had the story of Heaven's Guardians and their evil counterparts the demons from Hell, this time we have vampires, demons and some humans along for this wild ride.
The writing is so superior and should be read slowly and not rushed through. This is not some lighthearted romance, nor fluff. There were times I was so confused by what was being said and done that I had to do some major re-reading. But overall I became lost in the world of Colin, our vampire hero and his painful yet adoring love for Savitri, his ecclectic human heroine.
There is so much action, gore and eroticism that this should not be label as a simple romance. This book is so much more.
This love story, even if you can call it that is so sensual and erotic. Colin even though a vampire not by choice, likes his life. He doesn't brood too much, rather trying to seduce his woman to his way of life instead. He has a quirky sense of humor and his ego is massive. Savitri who is of Indian descent is his counterpart and brings him down a notch. When these two let loose together, watch out. They are partners and lovers to the up most degrees. I needed a fan at some points because their passion for each other was sizzling.
If you read this book before reading Demon Angel, you will be confused. I would recommend you start with that then move onto this.
An excellent fantasy tale in every sense!

Katiebabs
Demon Angel (Berkley Sensation)
Hot Spell

To preface, I read "Demon Angel" before reading this book. I finished that book and thought the first half was very good. This book? I won't be finishing it. (I can't get through it.) I'm stopping at Chapter Ten. It's not because I'm not into fantasy/paranormal books (I am) or because I look for 100% romance in my romance novels. It's because I like to see a great story unfold and for a world to be created that I find myself lost in. This author just doesn't accomplish that for me. However, I think she's a fairly popular writer (and gets great reviews across the board) so it's possible I'm in the minority.

While I think that Meljean Brook is a vey good writer, I don't think she's a good storyteller. She has a way with words and writing descriptions. The problem is that she is not very good explaining what's going on. It's funny, because I've seen a lot of people describe her as a person who "shows" rather than "tells"... I actually don't see it that way. I think she doesn't "show" either. Too much is left in her head that she doesn't put on paper. It's like she has the whole scene in her head, but she only writes about half of it in the book and just expects the reader to figure out what she's trying to say.

Here's an example: the main character (Savi) is having a conversation about psychic blocks with her mentor/older brother type figure (Hugo, the hero from the previous book). Apparently, Savi has stronger blocks than most humans. At some point in her life she suffered a huge emotional trauma and (apparently) this caused Hugo to train her to block her emotions. I guess... years down the line... this created a situation where her emotional blocks would be so high that she'd had no control over her body. I think. At least that's what I got from the conversation. Unfortunately, I'm completely GUESSING here because the author didn't actually explain any of this outright. It was handled in an off-hand manner during a conversation that Hugo and Savi have and - even then - half the sentences are very vague because it's odd for Savi to be talking about sex with her adopted brother. And, yet, this is actually a pretty important part of the story because it's a huge part of the romance between the two central characters.

That's just one example. The rest of the book is handled in this vague and partial manner. The concept was so interesting and the hero (Colin) had really interested me in that previous book. So I could hardly wait to get my hands on his book. And, now, ten chapters in and I feel like I barely know Colin or even care whether he gets together with Savi or not. He has problems with Chaos (I'm not sure why, because I think it was all covered in the first story in this series and Brook is not good about catching readers up on the details of what happened before) and, yet, I could care less. The world might be in danger from worms and nosferatu, but I have problems mustering up any sort of concern for humanity. Since a great deal of time is spent on the characters who don't really given a damn about it themselves. (Neither Savi nor Colin seem the least bit concerned. And if they are, it's only expressed through dialogue where Savi keeps asking questions and Colin keeps trying to give charming answers.)

There is a huge back-story regarding Savi and her family getting murdered. Apparently, she was forced into working for the government because she made fake IDs for friends and when she got caught a demon threatened to deport her grandmother to India if she didn't do covert work for the government. All of this is explained through a very short conversation with Lilith and Hugo and the reader only gets to find out as much as Lilith and Hugo can manage to pry out of Savi. Even though this scene is from Savi's POV!!!

At the end of the day, that's my biggest beef with the book and with Brook's writing. Even when we're seeing the story from a certain POV, she gives us frustratingly little to go on as a reader to be able to empathize with the character's or to know what's going on in their mind. You have to read the same chapter multiple times to even figure out what's going on. That's bad storytelling. When I'm reading a book, I want to be in the character's head. I want to know what's going on... I don't want to be watching from afar and trying to piece together everything like the author is leaving clues to a complicated puzzle. She writes in a way where the reader is merely a spectator to conversations going on between characters -- and even the conversations are not that illuminating. Her actions scenes leave a lot to be desired - as another reviewer described, she'll change settings in the blink of an eye and you'll have no idea what just happened or even where the people are.

"Demon Angel" had some of these flaws, but they weren't as bad as this one. And that book had more compelling characters (Hugo and Lilith). But this is still my last Brook book. I tried to get through "Iron Seas" but couldn't (although I think that has more to do with the steampunk genre). While Brook is a very popular author, her story telling style just doesn't work for me and I can't recommend her books.

I like the books plot, I liked the characters but the story seemed very detached and ill explained, I had to go back to re-read stuff to make sure I followed the thought behind it, I hate doing that with books, other then that it was a good story though I cant torture myself reading another if they are written the same style.

The first three chapters were great. They were about Savi, (a human woman) and a nosferatu (a vampire like creature) on an airplane. There were also a few other interesting thoughts during the book. The ending of the book was creative and satisfying concerning two events: (1) how a demon (the main villain) was killed and (2) what happened with the relationship between Colin and Savi. The plot during the rest of the book was uninteresting, drawn out and tedius. There were a variety of bad guys, wyrmwolves, nosferatu and a demon. The threats from wyrmwolves and nosferatu were never resolved, possibly to be continued in the next book. At times I wanted the book to be over. My major problem was with the author's writing style being hard to understand. Below are some examples.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
Several times I found myself rereading pages or paragraphs to understand what just happened. Maybe my brain isn't wired the same as other readers who liked this style. It was frustrating for me. Following are two examples for readers to judge for themselves.

Page 275: Colin (a vampire) is going to punish Denver and two other vampires who attempted to murder a human. "Colin tilted his head and sank his fangs into the boy's neck. Blood, thick and young and heady. He forced away the pleasure of it. And called up Chaos. The gentle murmur of voices alerted Colin to Castleford's arrival. Sitting on his heels, his elbows braced against his knees, Colin lifted his head and watched blearily as Lilith wrapped her arms around the other man's neck." (Several more sentences continue about Lilith, Castleford and Colin. The next sentence includes Colin's thoughts.) "What a bloody ridiculous mistake channeling memories of Chaos had been, though he couldn't completely blame his headache on that realm. If he ever again had to punish a trio of idiots, he'd remember to seal their mouths shut first. Denver had screamed shrilly into his ear, as had the third boy. But they'd learned their lesson well."

After the sentence "And called up Chaos," I was confused as to what Colin did to the three. I would have preferred that the author move the sentences up to that place saying that Colin channeled the memory of Chaos to the three and they screamed at the visions they experienced. Then, the author would continue with Lilith's and Castleford's actions. Being out of sequence frustrated me.

Page 466: Savi walks into the bathroom, stares at the mirror. "Silent screams ripped through the small room. She didn't see herself transform. Savi prepared the breakfast out of habit, rather than hunger. Orange juice. A frozen blueberry waffle." The next several paragraphs have Colin and Savi discussing breakfast and then she takes him to the bathroom to look in the mirror. At that point she tells him she had previously seen Chaos in the mirror.

The author initially left me wondering who was screaming and if it was Savi, why. I had to wait for more than a page until I read that it was Chaos she saw. The author never did explain what Savi transformed into or out of.

MINOR ANNOYANCE WITH ABBREVIATIONS.
Many chapters began with a paragraph which was an excerpt from a letter written by Colin or Savi to someone. Several times the author used an initial P or B rather than a name which was never explained. For example, page 393. "She was certain that B----- had written that blasted story, rather than P-----. I convinced her that she ought to conform to Continental fashion and take a companion." By the end of the book, I still didn't understand who B and P were.

Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: ten. Setting: About 2008 San Francisco. Copyright: 2007. Genre: fantasy and paranormal romance.

SERIES:
The first four books in this series are:
3 stars to FALLING FOR ANTHONY, in Hot Spell anthology
1 star to DEMON ANGEL
(not read) PARADISE, in Wild Think anthology
2 stars to DEMON MOON

I enjoyed this book, for the most part. It's a fast-paced romp through heaven and hell. Like the books in the series before this book has a serious flaw. This author will write 3-4 chapters, or in the case of demon angel almost the entire book, talking about some event as if you should know it but she's never said it outright.

Example: (possible spoiler!)
The heroine of this book fights and gets contaminated by nosferatu and some type of poison. What type of poison? Who knows but the author writes as if we should know all the details. Also everyone around the heroine speaks as if she's been transformed, into what? who knows! And it's not written as if it's a plot point moving up into the great reveal of what she's turned into. It's just never said. And poorly implied.

This gets frustrating. Very frustrating. Which is a shame. I really enjoy the universe that's been created but I'm not sure I'll keep following her books because they could be oh so much better if she didn't keep leaving things out.

Colin and Savitri are both interesting, faceted characters that I grew to like as the novel progressed. They weren't stock characters that so often populate romance novels.

What keeps this novel from getting 5 stars from me is that the plot is too complex. The book is lengthly as is, but the story would benefit from a slower pace. The plot is intricate and fast-paced at times; I needed Brook to give me more to work with in those cases.

Colin Ames-Beaumont makes no excuses for what he is; a vain and shallow man that does not look beyond what pleasure he can find for himself. After being cursed by a gypsy spell, Colin is unable to look in a mirror because all he will see is Chaos. For a man who knows how beautiful he is, this is the ultimate punishment. He is also the only one that can see into Chaos. When the Guardians realize that demons are trying to open the portal, Colin is their only way to see what is happening inside.

Savi Murray wants nothing more than to make her Nani happy. Unfortunately that means being someone she is not. When her path crosses with Colin's once again, Savi knows she must be strong because it is impossible for the two to be together. Even if she could look past his selfishness, Savi knows she can never be with someone that is unfaithful even if it is against their will.

Though they try to stay apart, Colin and Savi continue to get thrown together in situations that are out of their control. When a demon starts impersonating Colin trying to get a loyal following, Colin realizes that he must step in and become the leader that the vampire community so desperately needs. While he wants nothing more than for Savi to be at his side, he knows that it could do more harm than good as he can't seem to control his Bloodlust when she's around him. DEMON MOON is a vast improvement over Demon Angel. In Colin, Brooks has created a hero that has deeper depth than the reader ever realized. Savi is a loveable heroine and I wanted nothing more than to see her get her happy ending.

Don't miss it!

I think I've read 5 or 6 of these books. I like the ideas, the characters, the plot developement, I like the books, but I absolutely have no use for books that don't wrap up all the bits and pieces that make up the story.
Books need endings. It is great to read a series, books that have peripheral characters from prior books are fun to read, rather like running in to an old friend.
A reader pays for a book, and deserves (particularly at todays prices) to find out before the book is finished what happened to the guy next door, and uncle Herb, and whoever else put in an appearance. There is no excuse for leaving one of the central characters in a book being tortured in hell, and blantantly telling the faithful reader that he or she must purchase another book to find out how they're going to get him out of there.
Every single one of these books has left me angry at the writer for not finishing the bloody book.
Whether a book is part of a series or not, it is purchased by a reader who expects, and has a right to find within its covers, a beginning, a middle, and an end!
A book is not just advertising for a follow-up book!