I wanted to like this book, I really did. Sandra Hill is one of my favorite funny (slightly) paranormal writers, kind of in line with Lynsay Sands. I loved her time traveling Vikings and odd-ball Cajuns. There were a couple of awkward books that I didn't enjoy as much as her others, and after you read so many you noticed repeated catch phrases and situations. So when I saw that
Kiss of Pride: A Deadly Angels Book was to be the first book of a series about Viking Vampire Angels, well!, that could either break new ground or resurrect the tired Viking premises of her old series. To my dismay, it did both-and more!
The clueless, sexist, horny Viking characters are back! "Oh, my aching ale-head! All I want is to guide my long boat into her fjord!" Now throw in the Angel angle- "But it's a sin! Mayhap if I engage in near-sex (yes, a running theme throughout the book) I won't have to pay a 500 year penance!" Stir in the Vampire: "But you smell like lemons, so you're a sinner or are contemplating a deadly sin, so I must needs to force many blood exchanges upon you, mayhap even with my brother, while you scream and cry and we fall in love together!" Wow!
If you are a Christian fiction fan, you will cringe at the foul language and steamy "near-sex" and "almost-sex" scenes. If you're not religious, you'll cringe at the preachy, self-righteous tone the VIK (not sure why, but this is what the main 7 characters are referred to as) take with a definite Catholic bent. There are seven Viking brothers, each being punished for a separate deadly sin they personally committed and for being Vikings in general.This first book focuses on Vikar, the oldest, whose sin was pride. The archangel, St. Michael (who they call Mike) has painfully commissioned Vikings because of their lives lived in violence and idol worshiping to fight demon vampires made by Lucifer called "Lucipires" or "Lucies". These 7 have been fighting for close to a thousand years now, because every 100 years "Mike" does a Reckoning and tacks on centuries to their penance. Now they have been charged with staying in the 21st century to fight the "Lucies", renovating an old castle in a town in Pennsylvania residents have renamed Transylvania and turned into a pseudo-vampire tourist trap.They need to get the renovations done in a few weeks, because then a couple of hundred "vangels" will gather for St. Michael and the Reckoning.
Alexandra Kelly is a reporter, sent to do a story on the town and renovation of the castle by her boss who also just wants her out of town for her own safety. Her husband and daughter were killed by unsavory men, who will soon be going to trial with Alex slated to be a witness. It's also no secret to those that know her that she has had thoughts of either ending her own life or taking justice in her own hands and ending theirs. It also becomes known that a Mike Archer (read St. Michael) set up the story and interview. When she reaches Transylvania, PA, she is further contaminated by sin by being bitten by a Lucie in her sleep. So when she shows up at the castle, Vikar is forced to take her in because of her "sin-scent" even though that will attract more Lucies and give away their new hideout. To remove the "taint" of the Lucies he must do several cleansings-blood exchanges- and also find out what her sin or planned sin is. Or just kill her. Whatever. He becomes attracted to her so votes for the cleansings. His brothers-not so much, so they opt for the killing. Huh? Don't they go around trying to save the likes of Lizzie Borden, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Napoleon in the book? But back to the story. Vikar is the oldest, and says that Mike sent her, so he gets to do what he wants. And what he wants includes not explaining anything to Alex, forcing everything on her, and having "near-sex" which so close to Reckoning he really hopes isn't a deadly sin for him and Alex. Alex, in turn, cries, fights, complains, cooks for everyone, decorates the castle, and does everything but try to escape. Oh, and falls in lurrve. So does Vikar.
In the meantime, we get inside looks at Christian rituals, instruction on which bad words are better in God's eye's than others, a VIK that is engaging in oral and digital sex outside of marriage counseling another angel that masturbation is a sin, and other pearls of angel's and God's love and mercy. Throw in some torture, male rape, and crucifixion and, I dunno, it just all left a bad taste in my mouth. Funny passages aside, I still haven't stopped cringing.
Sandra's supposed to incorporate characters from other series in the next couple of installments-Cage from the Viking SEALs in the next one, Tante Lulu in the third- but I'll never know for sure. I'm half afraid to pick up another of her new books again! But just as I powered through this one, I'll probably put on my big girl panties for a time traveling Viking or Cajun hunk. But first flash of fang, wing, or holy water and I'm done.
