Helpful Score: 7
I was into vampire stories before they became the latest rage and a dime a dozen. That being said, I'm very rarely suckered into reading a vamp story I know is just out there to ride out the current popularity of paranormal romance. So I was pretty surprised when I just didn't like this vampire story.
I agree with the previous reviewer (JessicaRabbit) that this book lacks a little something. It's okay and not badly written. But I didn't really like the characters. It's not really like Romeo and Juliet though. It's less the star-crossed lovers motif and more enemies forced to marry plot device. It did sort of remind me of the movie Underworld except the roles of the vampires and the werewolves were reversed. And maybe that is part of the problem--Hauf wrote what for me amounts to a poorly done rip-off of Underworld. She tries to make her characters witty and have heat with each other despite being (supposed) exact opposites, but Blu comes off as punk meets trailer trash and Creed is not nearly as sophisticated nor intelligent enough to make me believe he is a vampire elder who has survived & matured for over 900 years. Also, it really takes very little time for our heroes to jump into bed together and proclaim their ever-lasting love. I was disappointed. I wanted more of a chase and for their love to be a little more believable after millennia of enmity between their kinds than, "well we've had amazing sex together for a few days in a row--it must be love!" After 900 years of not loving any woman, I don't think it would be that easy for Creed to give up his bachelor life style.
But what really rankles for me is that Blu has been sexually abused all her life and I know from personal experience that it's never that easy to fall in love (true love) after that kind of emotional damage. I believe that Blu would use her sexuality as a weapon to control Creed or even as a way of distancing herself from emotional attachment. I even believe she would *think* she's in love with the first guy to treat her better than a sex object. But I have a really hard time believing after this story is over, the last page turned over, that in a few years these two won't have split. She doesn't know who she is. She's still hiding and trying to figure out how she wants to be treated. I would have liked to have seen these elements examined in a realistic way so that when the characters do come together I can believe it's happily ever after from then on.
It really disturbs me that so many authors of romance novels use the sexual abuse card and then don't bother to treat it in a sensitive or realistic way. It's so much easier to write a few pages of great sex and call it love and pretend that's enough to heal all the hurt. What's really romantic is seeing the repercussions of such abuse and knowing that the other person will ride out that storm with you no matter what and even if it means no sex!
So, yes I have serious issues with this novel. I don't really recommend it to anyone unless you are not a discerning reader and can overlook gaping holes in characterization and plot. I *would* recommend Kresley Cole as a far superior writer who knows how to make this kind of plot work.
I agree with the previous reviewer (JessicaRabbit) that this book lacks a little something. It's okay and not badly written. But I didn't really like the characters. It's not really like Romeo and Juliet though. It's less the star-crossed lovers motif and more enemies forced to marry plot device. It did sort of remind me of the movie Underworld except the roles of the vampires and the werewolves were reversed. And maybe that is part of the problem--Hauf wrote what for me amounts to a poorly done rip-off of Underworld. She tries to make her characters witty and have heat with each other despite being (supposed) exact opposites, but Blu comes off as punk meets trailer trash and Creed is not nearly as sophisticated nor intelligent enough to make me believe he is a vampire elder who has survived & matured for over 900 years. Also, it really takes very little time for our heroes to jump into bed together and proclaim their ever-lasting love. I was disappointed. I wanted more of a chase and for their love to be a little more believable after millennia of enmity between their kinds than, "well we've had amazing sex together for a few days in a row--it must be love!" After 900 years of not loving any woman, I don't think it would be that easy for Creed to give up his bachelor life style.
But what really rankles for me is that Blu has been sexually abused all her life and I know from personal experience that it's never that easy to fall in love (true love) after that kind of emotional damage. I believe that Blu would use her sexuality as a weapon to control Creed or even as a way of distancing herself from emotional attachment. I even believe she would *think* she's in love with the first guy to treat her better than a sex object. But I have a really hard time believing after this story is over, the last page turned over, that in a few years these two won't have split. She doesn't know who she is. She's still hiding and trying to figure out how she wants to be treated. I would have liked to have seen these elements examined in a realistic way so that when the characters do come together I can believe it's happily ever after from then on.
It really disturbs me that so many authors of romance novels use the sexual abuse card and then don't bother to treat it in a sensitive or realistic way. It's so much easier to write a few pages of great sex and call it love and pretend that's enough to heal all the hurt. What's really romantic is seeing the repercussions of such abuse and knowing that the other person will ride out that storm with you no matter what and even if it means no sex!
So, yes I have serious issues with this novel. I don't really recommend it to anyone unless you are not a discerning reader and can overlook gaping holes in characterization and plot. I *would* recommend Kresley Cole as a far superior writer who knows how to make this kind of plot work.
Jessica D. (JessicaRabbit) reviewed Her Vampire Husband (Wicked Games, Bk 3) on + 110 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This was a good read. Not something I will be re-reading anytime soon, okay, possibly never, but still good. It's one of those things you only need to experience once and say "yep, that was awesome." But that doesn't mean this was a bad book. It was written well and the story had me intrigued from the beginning, it just didn't have that spark. I'm not sure what it was. It could be the heroine talked like an uneducated frat boy who couldn't eat cereal without spilling milk down her chin every time she ate it. *shudders* Take it from someone whose been eating cereal non stop for the past week and a half {serious cereal cravings happening in my little corner of the universe, don't ask why. }unless you are eating like a slob there should be no mess! Gerrr. Okay, back to the book. lol.
Forced into an arranged marriage to one of the vampire leaders, Creed Saint-Pierre, in order to bring the rival enemies together and insure peace amongst their nations werewolf princess Blu Masterson is downright furious that her father would agree to wed her off to a long-toothed {vampire}. But as the only female wolf in her pack, a rarity among their species, and the daughter of the alpha male she will do what she must to please her pack and father... just not consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her his forever. Just the thought of that flesh picker drinking blood disgusts her. Besides, the marriage is just a folly, the werewolves have no real intention in letting centuries of the vampires brutal attacks on their kind just die. To Blu's shock the vampires have the very same idea. Caught in an unexpected love so intense for someone not of their own species and torn between loyalty to their own and their new found love for each other Blu and Creed set out to prove the two races can coexist without blood shed. Getting the others to see this however proves a bigger challenge and the ultimate sacrifice may be the only key in ending the war. Would sacrificing ones self, love, and loyalty really help the blood thirsty nations call a truce or just add fuel to the fires?
Like I said, this was a good read. It had one of my favorite themes to it. The "I like you but I'm not going to let you know it" themes. Gotta love those. The sex in this was not disappointing. There was one scene in particular that made me go "yowza!" *grins* Let's just say it results in a very destroyed bedroom when they are finished. And though Blu's lack of proper english and ability to eat cereal without spilling milk down her chin annoys me to no end she is likable. It just takes time, and when you learn about her past and everything you can understand her better. Creed...there was nothing wrong with him, maybe he was a little bit too nice with her. She insulted him many times when he was just trying to be nice and he took it like the proper gentleman he was. Simply put this was a quick easy read with sizzling romance, action, and sexy characters that held you captivated from the start. I read this in just a few hours. Worth the read. But not something I'm going to insist you buy.
Forced into an arranged marriage to one of the vampire leaders, Creed Saint-Pierre, in order to bring the rival enemies together and insure peace amongst their nations werewolf princess Blu Masterson is downright furious that her father would agree to wed her off to a long-toothed {vampire}. But as the only female wolf in her pack, a rarity among their species, and the daughter of the alpha male she will do what she must to please her pack and father... just not consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her his forever. Just the thought of that flesh picker drinking blood disgusts her. Besides, the marriage is just a folly, the werewolves have no real intention in letting centuries of the vampires brutal attacks on their kind just die. To Blu's shock the vampires have the very same idea. Caught in an unexpected love so intense for someone not of their own species and torn between loyalty to their own and their new found love for each other Blu and Creed set out to prove the two races can coexist without blood shed. Getting the others to see this however proves a bigger challenge and the ultimate sacrifice may be the only key in ending the war. Would sacrificing ones self, love, and loyalty really help the blood thirsty nations call a truce or just add fuel to the fires?
Like I said, this was a good read. It had one of my favorite themes to it. The "I like you but I'm not going to let you know it" themes. Gotta love those. The sex in this was not disappointing. There was one scene in particular that made me go "yowza!" *grins* Let's just say it results in a very destroyed bedroom when they are finished. And though Blu's lack of proper english and ability to eat cereal without spilling milk down her chin annoys me to no end she is likable. It just takes time, and when you learn about her past and everything you can understand her better. Creed...there was nothing wrong with him, maybe he was a little bit too nice with her. She insulted him many times when he was just trying to be nice and he took it like the proper gentleman he was. Simply put this was a quick easy read with sizzling romance, action, and sexy characters that held you captivated from the start. I read this in just a few hours. Worth the read. But not something I'm going to insist you buy.
Helpful Score: 1
Arranged marriages are so last year, at least thats what Blu Masterson thought until her father arranged for her to marry Creed Saint-Pierre. She is expected to marry a long tooth, a mortal enemy of the werewolves in a quest for peace. This marriage is supposed to bring both factions together and stop the wars between them.
I love Blu, she is smart, very sarcastic and not afraid to go after what she wants. She is a rare, female werewolf who hides behind brightly colored wigs and outlandish clothes. She has endured years of abuse from members of her pack and had to developed defense mechanisms to survive. She is the total opposite from her long tooth husband.
Creed is over 900 years old and loves the finer things in life. He drives expensive cars, wears designer clothes and is the local Tribe leader. When Blu moves in, she teases him that he is boring. As the book progresses you see him start to loosen up and enjoy life again. He enjoys her quirky behavior and will do anything to see her smile.
I like Creed and Blu as a couple. They complement each other, even though they are complete opposites. I love how they both changed their view of the enemy as the book progressed. Creed calmed Blu down and she loosened him up. They worked together when they realized that their marriage was no longer a farce.
This story is part of the Wicked Games series but can be read as a standalone. I read it before I read other books in this series and enjoyed it so much that I had to read the rest of the stories. It was nice to see how some of the other characters ended up together.
I loved this book. The romance between the leads is strong and the underlying political issues dont distract from it. Ms. Hauf weaves it into the story in a way that draws you in and makes you want to know more. The ending was a nice surprise. The book is fast paced and I didnt want to put it down. I read it in one day.
I highly recommend this book and invite everyone to stop by next Friday, April 9th and visit with Michele Hauf. I give this book 4 ½ Flaming Hearts.
I love Blu, she is smart, very sarcastic and not afraid to go after what she wants. She is a rare, female werewolf who hides behind brightly colored wigs and outlandish clothes. She has endured years of abuse from members of her pack and had to developed defense mechanisms to survive. She is the total opposite from her long tooth husband.
Creed is over 900 years old and loves the finer things in life. He drives expensive cars, wears designer clothes and is the local Tribe leader. When Blu moves in, she teases him that he is boring. As the book progresses you see him start to loosen up and enjoy life again. He enjoys her quirky behavior and will do anything to see her smile.
I like Creed and Blu as a couple. They complement each other, even though they are complete opposites. I love how they both changed their view of the enemy as the book progressed. Creed calmed Blu down and she loosened him up. They worked together when they realized that their marriage was no longer a farce.
This story is part of the Wicked Games series but can be read as a standalone. I read it before I read other books in this series and enjoyed it so much that I had to read the rest of the stories. It was nice to see how some of the other characters ended up together.
I loved this book. The romance between the leads is strong and the underlying political issues dont distract from it. Ms. Hauf weaves it into the story in a way that draws you in and makes you want to know more. The ending was a nice surprise. The book is fast paced and I didnt want to put it down. I read it in one day.
I highly recommend this book and invite everyone to stop by next Friday, April 9th and visit with Michele Hauf. I give this book 4 ½ Flaming Hearts.
Lisa R. (alterlisa) -
Helpful Score: 1
Well, what can I say other than I loved it. This is the type of book that had me embracing the genre. As much as I read UF, it doesn't hold a candle to a good Paranormal Romance. Best of all, we get vampire and werewolves in one book--a double treat. It has all the fixings of a great romance, a contracted marriage where they both hate the sight of the other. But soon they realize that there's more to the other guy than those preconceived ideas and prejudices they were brought up with. And hey, when one of those is over 900 years old, you got some deep rooted prejudices.
Helpful Score: 1
Meh... This one starts out pretty well, but by the middle of the book, I found the dialogue between the characters starting to grate on me. I didn't think that he sounded mature enough to be a 900 year old vampire & she sounded too crude to be a werewolf princess.
The book's whole "conflict" (a pending war between the vampires & werewolves) didn't really grab me either- I found myself pretty much "skimming" to get to the end by the time I was 3/4 of the way through. The entire idea of this odd couple getting married to stem off the pending war was completely ineffectual and pointless, as it really accomplishes nothing & the war kind of starts anyway.
There are much better paranormal romances out there... (I even thought that this author's previous book, Moon Kissed, was better than this one.) I was disappointed with this one.
The book's whole "conflict" (a pending war between the vampires & werewolves) didn't really grab me either- I found myself pretty much "skimming" to get to the end by the time I was 3/4 of the way through. The entire idea of this odd couple getting married to stem off the pending war was completely ineffectual and pointless, as it really accomplishes nothing & the war kind of starts anyway.
There are much better paranormal romances out there... (I even thought that this author's previous book, Moon Kissed, was better than this one.) I was disappointed with this one.
