I think that this book strayed closer to the Urban Fantasy mark than Romance. I would be fine with that if that had been what I was expecting. However, I bought this in the Romance section and was expecting those qualities. The relationship between Niko and Renata felt rushed and flat.
I liked Renata's character. I thought she could be dense at times, but her overall strength and lack of "woe is me" was very refreshing. Even though her physical strength and weapon skills didn't put her ahead of Breed males, her crippling mind attacks definitely did. I think that some might find her cold in the beginning of the book, but I enjoyed her stoicism. It seems like most of the time a strong male is paired with a weaker female, but I felt that Renata was the stronger of the two lead characters. Or at least I felt that way for the beginning half of the book.
For the first part of the book Niko was a mystery to me. It was kind of irritating because I wanted to see more of who he was as a character. There wasn't a lot of insight into him until later in the book. When we did get told about his past it was still rather "ho-hum" for me. I wanted to see more of who he was beyond his mission. I guess because we spent more time in Renata's head I had a better understanding of her character. The stray thoughts here and there built on each other to show what made her tick. I guess I wish we would have had more of that with Niko too.
I liked that Niko wasn't looking for love, but when he did realize he had fallen for Renata he owned it. There was no mental angsting about it. He may have been a bit surprised but he never tried to deny it and was actually the first one to admit it. It was refreshing, but leads directly into my biggest problem with the story: the romance.
I think Niko and Renata needed more time to develop their relationship. I liked the unwilling fascination with each other in the beginning. I also liked the thread of danger that ran through Renata when she thought of Niko. She had to be very careful to not put a foot out of line there or Sergei Yakut would crush her. I was intrigued by the faint disgust Niko had by his attraction to her when he thought she condoned what Sergei did and that he desired her when he thought she was blood-bonded to Sergei. I was really looking forward to see how the author would get the characters together with all those factors against them. Unfortunately that was never explored.
Niko seemed to want to be with Renata because of a hot vision he saw. He seemed to fall in love with her for the same reason, because I can't see any other reason why he'd feel that way so quickly. Renata seemed to want Niko because he can help her find Mira and because to heal she needs his blood and his blood makes her hot. She seems to fall in love for the same reason. I wish I could have seen a real reason why they want to be together. As it is I feel that after the adrenaline wears off and they don't have to rescue anyone they'll start to realize they don't know each other at all.
I was intrigued by Hunter right away. I predicted what would happen, but not how it would center around Mira. I'm interested in what part he will play in the upcoming story arc. I was very irritated by the inclusion of Andreas Reichen's story arc. It was blatant sequel bait. It added absolutely nothing of value to this storyline. I like to read connected stories in a series, but it is very irritating to have so much space in a book devoted to a character that doesn't impact the current storyline at all.
The book is well written and the storyline is intriguing. It's very easy to get caught up in the action of the book. I enjoy this author's books and will buy her again, but I wish she would bring back the balance of romance and action that she had in her earlier books.
I liked Renata's character. I thought she could be dense at times, but her overall strength and lack of "woe is me" was very refreshing. Even though her physical strength and weapon skills didn't put her ahead of Breed males, her crippling mind attacks definitely did. I think that some might find her cold in the beginning of the book, but I enjoyed her stoicism. It seems like most of the time a strong male is paired with a weaker female, but I felt that Renata was the stronger of the two lead characters. Or at least I felt that way for the beginning half of the book.
For the first part of the book Niko was a mystery to me. It was kind of irritating because I wanted to see more of who he was as a character. There wasn't a lot of insight into him until later in the book. When we did get told about his past it was still rather "ho-hum" for me. I wanted to see more of who he was beyond his mission. I guess because we spent more time in Renata's head I had a better understanding of her character. The stray thoughts here and there built on each other to show what made her tick. I guess I wish we would have had more of that with Niko too.
I liked that Niko wasn't looking for love, but when he did realize he had fallen for Renata he owned it. There was no mental angsting about it. He may have been a bit surprised but he never tried to deny it and was actually the first one to admit it. It was refreshing, but leads directly into my biggest problem with the story: the romance.
I think Niko and Renata needed more time to develop their relationship. I liked the unwilling fascination with each other in the beginning. I also liked the thread of danger that ran through Renata when she thought of Niko. She had to be very careful to not put a foot out of line there or Sergei Yakut would crush her. I was intrigued by the faint disgust Niko had by his attraction to her when he thought she condoned what Sergei did and that he desired her when he thought she was blood-bonded to Sergei. I was really looking forward to see how the author would get the characters together with all those factors against them. Unfortunately that was never explored.
Niko seemed to want to be with Renata because of a hot vision he saw. He seemed to fall in love with her for the same reason, because I can't see any other reason why he'd feel that way so quickly. Renata seemed to want Niko because he can help her find Mira and because to heal she needs his blood and his blood makes her hot. She seems to fall in love for the same reason. I wish I could have seen a real reason why they want to be together. As it is I feel that after the adrenaline wears off and they don't have to rescue anyone they'll start to realize they don't know each other at all.
I was intrigued by Hunter right away. I predicted what would happen, but not how it would center around Mira. I'm interested in what part he will play in the upcoming story arc. I was very irritated by the inclusion of Andreas Reichen's story arc. It was blatant sequel bait. It added absolutely nothing of value to this storyline. I like to read connected stories in a series, but it is very irritating to have so much space in a book devoted to a character that doesn't impact the current storyline at all.
The book is well written and the storyline is intriguing. It's very easy to get caught up in the action of the book. I enjoy this author's books and will buy her again, but I wish she would bring back the balance of romance and action that she had in her earlier books.
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