Customer Reviews

Primal Instincts

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Primal Instincts by Susan Sizemore
Paranormal Romance - August 31st, 2010
4 stars

Primal Instincts is the 9th book in Susan Sizemore's Prime vampire series. And although the author introduces new and intriguing subplots, this book can easily be read by itself. In this story we discover the secrets behind Francesca Reynard. The spoiled and seductive elite vampiress all the Prime vampires' desire.

Francesca is young and impetuous. She values her independence and does not appreciate the arrogant if sinfully sexy male Primes (AKA alpha) vampires from interfering in her life. Francesca is tired of being seen as a sex object and hides a deep pain from her past that rebels against submitting to any Prime vampire. In this book the reader discovers the reasons why she will not settle down with any Prime even though she is constantly pressured to bear a child since vampire children are so rare. So far Francesca has been successful in avoiding any entanglements. However, she has not counted on her annoying attraction the devastatingly handsome Prime Tobias Stranhan.

Tobias is the leader of the elite Dark Angels. The secret dark ops of the vampire community. He desires Francesca and this attraction soon takes a more serious turn when Tobias is ruthlessly blackmailed by Francesca's mother, Marti Angelica. Marti Angelica sees Francesca`s unwilling attraction for Tobias and plans to exploit this knowledge. Marti Angelica proposes an ultimatum to Tobias, either impregnate her daughter or she will work to destroy the Dark Angels. Tobias knows he needs Marti Angelica's backing because their enemy the Tribe has become more dangerous and bold.

But what Tobias and Francesca don't plan on is the sizzling passion that flares between them. Both of them are against bonding which is the deep commitment among vampires but nonetheless feel the deep pull toward each other that bond mates often feel. Soon they find themselves getting in too deep. They find themselves able to 'read' each others' thoughts. (An early sign of bonding.) And then they begin to crave each other's blood.

This was an easy and solid read. There were many subplots which added new and surprising dimension to this story. The one frustration I had was that Francesca was never proactive and many times seemed to lack maturity. This is because I never felt her character really developed until near the end of the book. It also took a while before the author revealed the reasons behind Francesca's actions but even when this was revealed. Because of this, I was not able to completely warm up to her. I felt Francesca banked too much on her looks and rank and kept waiting for her to do something worthy of her status.

I did love Susan Sizemore alpha Prime Tobias. He was extra sexy and fascinating. He had hidden depths I did not expect. His ruthlessness and vulnerability were an irresistible combination! But unfortunately, his strong character highlighted the contrast to Francesca's weaker personality. Because of this I felt they were not quite on equal footing and was not able to enjoy the couple's romance as much as I usually do.

This book gives tantalizing hints of the Tribe enemy which I hope will be revealed soon. As such I felt this book was more like the 2nd book in a trilogy. There was no big 'payoff' even though the characters ended up together the story itself still seemed unresolved. However, this was a must have book for fans of the series, the only reason I didn't grade it a little higher was because I have enjoyed the author's prior books more.

Susan Sizemore is a master story teller. Her latest, Primal Instincts is no exception. Fans of the series will not be disappointed but I enjoyed the romance in her earlier Prime books more. This story has enticing glimpses of what is in store for the Primes but it also felt more like a bridging book rather than a complete story since it brings up more questions than it answers.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

Pampered `princess' Francesca (Flare) Reynard, as a rare female of her Prime (vampire) species, is used to having male Primes falling at her feet. But just as Flare's finally come up with a scheme to produce an heir for her clan without having to tie herself to a Prime, danger looms for her race and Flare's devious mother - who is also the Matri leader of her clan - pulls yet another string and Flare finds herself being protected by the most uber Prime male of them all, Tobias Strahan the leader of the supernatural special ops-ish Dark Angels.

Tobias already has his hands full as conflict looms on the horizon threatening to expose the existence of paranormals to regular humans, when Flare's Matri makes him an offer he can't refuse. Fulfilling his bargain means keeping Flare close and soon the luscious Flare is playing havoc with his concentration just when he needs to be on top of his game. But even though both have an agenda involving the other and neither intends to bond ever, the pair soon discover that, as much as they think they are fighting the bonding, their instincts make it impossible to resist and soon they are both well and truly hooked.

What a great pairing, it obviously was going to take more than just any old Prime to bond with Flare - she's had all those gorgeous vamps throwing themselves at her forever - but Tobias is just so alpha and intense and, since he spent his formative years spent in the tribes, dominating. Surprisingly, since Flare is used to having her own way and wrapping Prime males around her little finger, Tobias' possession makes it impossible for her to resist.

I have to say that Primal Instinct is now my favorite of Sizemore's vampire tales, I really liked the way that Sizemore handled the relationship between this seemingly mismatched pair - warrior and socialite - she kicks things off with a strong physical connection and a good amount of steam and then uses their emerging telepathic bond to deepen the emotional intimacy between them and allow them to trust enough to share their secrets and then to make a true connection. I also loved the Dark Angels and hope to see more of a few characters who seem positioned for future books.

I loved the earlier books of this series but the last few have not been worth reading. I thought maybe Flare's book would be different because throughout the series she has been a strong-willed female, rebellious of the culture she lives in. As the heir apparent to Clan Reynard, beautiful Flare has used her intelligence and strength to buck her clan leader mother's domineering and meddling ways. She also detests the idea of a Prime controlling and dominating her so she avoids them even though they fall all over themselves trying to gain her attention. To fulfill her obligation to provide the clan with a child, she decides to use insemination instead of involvement with a Prime. Mom interferes again and after Flare shares a car ride to the medical clinic with our hero Tobias, the hormones starts to flow.

Two of Sizemore's previous human heroines, Domini (I Burn for You) and Jo (I Thirst for You) didn't just roll over and become puppets dancing to their heroes tune. With her knowledge of the Clan, her intelligence and vampire strength, I expected Flare to be Sizemore's best heroine yet. But by page 34, Flare is reduced to just another stupid, hormone flustered heroine practically dry humping Tobias' leg one minute and then telling herself this isn't what she wants in the next. She continually tells herself she will never bond with a soldier, and based on a secret from Flare's past she has good reason to feel this way, but doesn't do a damn thing to stop. It was infuriating to see a character that has been a pillar of strength and resolve throughout the series to become just another hormone driven heroine. I didn't really have a problem with Tobias - he seemed to fulfill his soldier and commander roles fairly well and he had some good qualities but I didn't see anything on which they could build a relationship besides sex and even that didn't appear all that great. But since I was totally distracted by the new and totally boring, predictable, hormonal Flare I may have just phased it out completely.

The storyline has become lost, convoluted, and hasn't shown any forward momentum in the last few books. The bad guy Tribes have teamed up with Purists and are still causing problems and there are other players alluded to in the background but not much else is going on. The best part of the whole book was the secondary storylines of Saffron - Tobias' teenage daughter and Gregor - a shadowy character from previous books with a secret.

I happened to pick this book based on reviews at romantictimes.com. The writing was really good, but by no means would I consider this a stand alone book. I felt like I was joining a conversation in the middle. I was able to follow the basic story, but the nuances of the culture were beyond me. I liked this book well enough so that I will read the earlier books to play catch up, but I really feel that the author should consider that a better explanation of who is who should be included in each book.

For example, the Family, the Clan, the Tribe. I still am not sure what and who they are and what roles they provide. Some of the characters are Prime's. Are they elected, born to the roles, what?

Again, the book was really well written, I just needed more background.

So, my recommendation for readers new to this author and series are to start at the beginning of the series and work up to this one!

I have read all of Susan Sizemore's Prime books and loved the first three, thought the next couple were OK if not overly complicated, but this one was back to the original theme that had me hooked from the first line. I enjoyed the easy read with the storyline that wasn't so complicated that I had to reread chapters just to make sense of them. I read Primal Instincts in one setting, and was surprised that I really liked Tobias and Francesca (Don't call me Flare"}. I can't wait for the next installation.

It was a while since I read the previous book in this series so it took me a bit to remember what was happening as this book takes off straight away. The bonding that goes on with these characters is very intense and even though I am reading paranormal fiction I still gag at people declaring thier undying love after two days! What let this story down was the lack of detail in how these two would manage their relationship when both of them have strong responsibilities within their culture. I mean Flare was nearly 50 and her mother still dictated for her. The other thing was it ended with so many unanswered questions that left more than a teaser for the next book, it was just very frustrating.

The positives where the way Tobias took care of his adoptive daughter and the relationship they had, his character really showed he was trying to help his culture move in the right direction.

Her Matris demands her daughter Francesca "Flare" Reynard continue their vampire line by carrying the next generation. Flare knows she has little choice but to obey. However, she plans to take advantage of modern technology and use artificial insemination.

Her mother rejects the concept of in-vitro. Instead she selects Prime Tobias Strahan as the sire of her grandchildren. The Matris directs Tobias to seduce her daughter and make her pregnant. The Prime argues that he has no time for Flare as he must keep his supernatural horde safe, but knows when to shut up, he plans to take his annoyance out on Flare. He never expected the flare of attraction that explodes between them as he once had a deep love and has a daughter while she now feels as artificial insemination is coldly clinical.

The latest Primal vampire romance (see Primal Needs, Primal Desires and Primal Heat) is exhilarating tale of two individuals who would like to ignore the Matris, but knows better and worse would prefer to pay no heed to their desire for one another. The story line is loaded with action on several subplot fronts. However, the prime plot holding the complicated tense novel together is the relationship between the protagonists. With a late wonderful twist that hopefully sets up the next Primal thriller as readers will know the tale of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold".

Harriet Klausne

I have to admit, I don't think I have been reading this series in order, in fact have probably missed a few books. I did enjoy this one, I hope some questions are answered in a following book. All in all, a good solid book by Sizemore. I haven't been disappointed by her books yet.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story and am glad that she is continuing this series. I look forward to her next book in this series.

I have loved this series since the first book. Once picked up, couldn't put it down.