Helpful Score: 3
I actually really, really, really liked this book! I loved Knox immediately. The sexual tension was great, of course as a romance lover first, I would have preferred more, but all in all I loved how Virna did it. Felicia is a strong kick ass agent & has to fight her love & drive to not step on her BFFs husband. Great way it all came together, yet left loose ends for the next installment, which Im now dying to get my hands on. Great action, romance, angst & even some steamy scenes! Great read IMO! & I loved Noella's ghost moments :)
Helpful Score: 2
I admit to being slightly disappointed with this book. I was expecting a little bit more romance and I honestly didn't really grow to like Knox until the last few chapters. I just felt like Knox was slightly jerky(being the better word) and I never really understood the love both him and Felicia felt for one another. We are repeatedly told that they both love each other but why? I felt that Knox never really even got to know Felicia and the type of person she was. I get that they are soul mates but that shouldn't necessarily mean that you love someone. I need to be shown why and I just don't think that was done well.
I really did enjoy the world that Virna created. It seemed very realistic and believable. I also loved reading about the Para-Ops team. I found all of the characters extremely interesting and I can't wait to see how they develop even more in future books. I especially love the tension between Wraith and O'Flare. I can't wait to read O'Flare's book.
I really did enjoy the world that Virna created. It seemed very realistic and believable. I also loved reading about the Para-Ops team. I found all of the characters extremely interesting and I can't wait to see how they develop even more in future books. I especially love the tension between Wraith and O'Flare. I can't wait to read O'Flare's book.
Helpful Score: 2
It's hard nowadays to find a really good paranormal story about vampires with so many bad ones currently saturating the romance and YA markets. So it is really nice to read a vamp tale that is original while still somehow maintaining the sexiness and allure that made the genre so popular to begin with.
Chosen By Blood is an excellent start to an intriguing series that reinvents the vampire and paranormal genre to create an original story. I've read other stories in which vampires lead variations on a top secret group of paranormal agents. It's been done before but not as well as Virna DePaul's attempt. Her world is fully developed and well thought-out and her characters (especially supporting characters) are more interesting than one would expect. The plot is well planned and complete with lot's of twists, some more obvious than others. More importantly there is witty dialogue and unexpected humor--not as witty as a Kresley Cole novel but definitely more than the standard in a genre that can sometimes take itself way too seriously.
The romance left me a little cold unfortunately. It developed a bit too swiftly for my taste--in fact most of the falling in love part of the relationship is done before we even meet the characters. I prefer a bit more chase and anticipation in my romances. And there is a *lot* of sex. And it is a bit crass for my tastes too. But for a romance reader I can be a bit of a prude so this might not bother anyone else. Our main characters served their purpose as a gateway to the series admirably if a little generically, but I became much more intrigued and interested in the fates of other characters. I hope Wraith and O'Flare's book (coming up next) lives up to the hype. Although I'm impressed with this first novel, I could see my interest in the series waning if the second book doesn't deliver where this one failed, namely to sustain my emotional investment in the main protagonists instead of allowing it to wander to side characters.
Chosen By Blood is an excellent start to an intriguing series that reinvents the vampire and paranormal genre to create an original story. I've read other stories in which vampires lead variations on a top secret group of paranormal agents. It's been done before but not as well as Virna DePaul's attempt. Her world is fully developed and well thought-out and her characters (especially supporting characters) are more interesting than one would expect. The plot is well planned and complete with lot's of twists, some more obvious than others. More importantly there is witty dialogue and unexpected humor--not as witty as a Kresley Cole novel but definitely more than the standard in a genre that can sometimes take itself way too seriously.
The romance left me a little cold unfortunately. It developed a bit too swiftly for my taste--in fact most of the falling in love part of the relationship is done before we even meet the characters. I prefer a bit more chase and anticipation in my romances. And there is a *lot* of sex. And it is a bit crass for my tastes too. But for a romance reader I can be a bit of a prude so this might not bother anyone else. Our main characters served their purpose as a gateway to the series admirably if a little generically, but I became much more intrigued and interested in the fates of other characters. I hope Wraith and O'Flare's book (coming up next) lives up to the hype. Although I'm impressed with this first novel, I could see my interest in the series waning if the second book doesn't deliver where this one failed, namely to sustain my emotional investment in the main protagonists instead of allowing it to wander to side characters.
Helpful Score: 1
Paranormal romance by Virna DePaul. An interesting premise. After vampires revealed themselves to humanity, a war between the two cultures began. Human scientists developed a vaccine for humans, that made their blood useless to vampires, so that human blood won't nourish the vamp. Then a truce, or treaty was struck. This sets the scenario for the story. The vampire population is sickly, and declining. Vampires are encouraged to marry and mate other vampires, in order to propogate the species. Our vamp hero, Knox and his clan live in an isolated dome for thier own health and protection.
The problem is that Knox is in love, and always has been, with his first vamp wife's best friend, human woman Felicia who is an FBI agent. Knox wants to marry a vampire, as well as have the love of his life in his world. Felicia isn't having it. She doesn't want to be second to anyone else, she doesn't want to share, and she doesn't want to betray her best friend. Felicia is an old fashioned girl: love, honor, fidelity.
The FBI wants to put together a Para-Ops team, whose first goal is to investigate a possible cure for the vampire-killing vaccine that had been distributed. Guess who is going to run the Team, and guess who else is going to be on it?
Sound confusing? It is. This book has lots of action, lots of characters, and even more plots and sub-plots. I found it hard to keep up. I found myself skimming through some of the action. The romance is OK. I didn't like Knox, naturally. He wants it all, without any sacrifice on his part. There are smokin' hot sex scenes.
The book is pretty good. Probably not as good as JR Ward or Larissa Ione, but I'll still look for the second in series.
The problem is that Knox is in love, and always has been, with his first vamp wife's best friend, human woman Felicia who is an FBI agent. Knox wants to marry a vampire, as well as have the love of his life in his world. Felicia isn't having it. She doesn't want to be second to anyone else, she doesn't want to share, and she doesn't want to betray her best friend. Felicia is an old fashioned girl: love, honor, fidelity.
The FBI wants to put together a Para-Ops team, whose first goal is to investigate a possible cure for the vampire-killing vaccine that had been distributed. Guess who is going to run the Team, and guess who else is going to be on it?
Sound confusing? It is. This book has lots of action, lots of characters, and even more plots and sub-plots. I found it hard to keep up. I found myself skimming through some of the action. The romance is OK. I didn't like Knox, naturally. He wants it all, without any sacrifice on his part. There are smokin' hot sex scenes.
The book is pretty good. Probably not as good as JR Ward or Larissa Ione, but I'll still look for the second in series.
