Book Review: Bloodlines

Bloodlines

By:  Skyla Dawn Cameron

Publisher:  Mundania Press LLC

Publish Date:  April 2011

Format:  Paperback, 198pgs; Trade size

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st book in Demons of Oblivion series

Recommendation:  Yes!!  Wonderful take on vampirism and an action full story with fun come backs from snarky characters.  And I would love to chat and talk on this book, where it left openings for future books too!

Book Synopsis:
After three hundred years of unlife, vampire Zara Lain has seemingly done it all, and she's now making a living as a successful thief-turned-assassin.  Her newest assignment seems simple enough: kill the aging leader of the O'Connor Coven and his only heir, and she'll have another ten million in the bank.

But in the dangerous world of the supernatural, few things are ever "simple."

When a massive assault decimates the continent's population of powerful witches and warlocks, and its orchestrator has vampires being hunted down and captured, Zara realizes the tables have turned and now she'll be playing the hero.  Forced to join with a smart-mouthed fellow vampire, a demonologist who's also a fan of hers, a recently widowed - and frequently brooding - warlock, and her best friend's mom, Zara's grudgingly willing to do what she can to save the day.

If only people would stop ruining all her outfits...

First Sentence:
Someone was following me.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Zara, a high class thief turned hit woman, goes to visit her friend and rogue witch Mishka for her next contract, or assignment.  The warlock leader of a rivaling coven to Mishka's parents' coven.  Even though the pay is less, a lot less, than she wants she is talked into the job for the spoils Sean O'Connor has in his home AND for the bounty on his son as well.  In the process of the job Zara learns some interesting information and goes back to Mishka for answers.  Only to find there is more trouble lurking in the shadows, and there are those after the powerful witch covens and vampires too.  Death and 'napping is at an all high for both groups.  Zara gets pulled into the mix while protecting herself, then to protect others as well.

I really enjoyed the writing style here in this book.  The way the picture is drawn with the character and the surroundings used with each other to see.  The comparisons used and metaphors to help get the feel across to us.  The story kept moving forward, even when I thought the worst has happened the world opens up to a new level of bad for the characters.  Always moving forward with the action and happenings, to then bring you to the end that works out... for almost everyone.

Quickly in the first chapter I got pulled into the world and meet Zara, which had me liking her off the bat.  The way the story is worded has me on Zara's side with her vamping ways, and agreeing with her on her pick in victims.  Zara has a snarky humor and loves her clothes.  What girl doesn't, right?  But, as Zara can at times come across self-centered, I still got the feel there was more to her as to why she acted this way.  And boy did I learn more about her.  Even in the end Zara had me worried and scared.  But I enjoyed where Skyla took the story. 

Zara felt as she really grew for me as I got to know her better through the book.  The author, Skyla, is not afraid to pull the punches on her characters, and by doing so has created a fast paced action read with a touch of fun snark that you wont want to stop turning the pages of, just to see what trouble Zara will fall into next.

Then there are the secondary characters, which I really enjoyed.  They blended well with Zara, even when they clashed in personality.  There was one character I loved who ended up being not so nice, but I still enjoyed his character!  Another character ~ Nathan ~ brought more out of Zara and connected with her nicely, even though they are two different people. Mm, mm, mm.  Nate!  He is the next hottie Warlock around.  He is more than what meets the eyes, so keep an eye on him. ;)

I liked the take on Vampirism in this book.  It is more a demon parasite and has a system about it.  Very nice take on it!  For I could follow and believe the vampire development in this world.

At the end of the book there's a short story, Thrall.  Which is from Nathan's point of view while Zara and he are... separated... (once you read the book you will understand.)  This is a wonderful addition to the story!  It gives you a little more insight to the world of magic and vampires as the story is told from Nate's eyes and feelings.  And once the story is all done and you read this one, you start to think on what might happen in the future...

I will definitely be looking for more of this series and world.  The next two books will have an appearance by Zara but will be from a different characters view on their stories.  But don't fret as Zara will be back in book 4 and I'm waiting for her, and her friend...  I can't wait for these characters again and to see what they have in store for us.



I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest review.


This book qualifies for Horror & Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge hosted by Book Chick City.