Cynthia Garner

- 3 Vampire’s Hunger Stars -

Vampire’s Hunger is book one in the Awakening series by Cynthia Garner. As first books go in a series this one was ok. It didn’t wow me and I probably should have read the blurb before picking this up. I am not a zombie fan.

Vampire’s Hunger starts off a little slow. We have a verity of supernaturals from vampires, fae, necromancers and more. I enjoyed the verity of sup’s, but the world building was lacking. We don’t get much on the necromancers only that the police use them and that Kimber is not the only one… We also learn next to nothing about the vampires or fae too. Their is some action and it was enjoyable, but it felt to easy. What really got me was the vampire rebellion inside the vampire coven. Defeating the head vampire was too easy and if it was that easy what is to stop others from doing the same thing… It should have been harder to destroy ones enemies.

As for the characters I never really felt a connection to them. I did not dislike them, but I never could get into them. As for the relationship well I get why Kimber dislikes vampires, but I could not understand her reluctance towards Duncan. I did like Duncan. He is an alpha male and I liked his point of view, but I never understood why he befriended Kimber. Natalie and Aodhan are interesting. The tension was natural, real with some good banter between them. It does contain some high heat and sexual tension throughout the book.

I didn’t love this one, but I didn’t hate it either... It was not to my taste in books that I enjoy. If the blurb intrigues you, I urge you to give it a shot. Just because it did not work for me does not mean it won’t for you.

… (plus d'informations)

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A necromancer, vampires and zombies make for a dark and somewhat depressing tale about a woman who starts the zombie apocalypse and the vampires who want to use her for their own gain.

Opening Sentence: Kimber Treat, one of only a few necromancers licensed by the county of Summit, Ohio, pushed open the door to the Medical Examiner’s lab.

The Review:

I had a little trepidation before I started this story. Kimber Treat is a necromancer and from the synopsis, I just kept thinking of Anita Blake and if there would be any parallels. I really shouldn’t have worried. I felt that Vampire’s Hunger was more like The Walking Dead with vampire politics. The vampire politics almost outweigh the zombie part of the storyline because there is zombie fighting but overall it seems that the zombies are just a setting of this world.

Vampire’s Hunger starts off with Kimber bringing back a murder victim to find out his killer but what should have been a routine reanimation ends up bringing about the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Kimber shares one really hot kiss with a vampire before cutting to six months later when the world has been overtaken with zombies. Kimber was once sure of her necromancy powers is now quite scared and tentative to use her powers. She is, however, resilient and a survivor. She does whatever it takes to survive. Kimber and her friends are holed up in an apartment complex that has been safeguarded to keep away zombies.

Kimber’s roommates are her very human friend, Natalie, and two very extreme protectors, Aodhán, a fey and Duncan, a vampire. Duncan has declared himself protector of Kimber for more than one reason. His maker wants Kimber to raise a long dead vampire which could just worsen things with the zombie apocalypse. Duncan also knows, if the humans die than vampires won’t live much longer either. Kimber wants to find a cure to defeat the zombie virus but it is the terrible things a vampire queen wants her to do that take over the story.

Kimber begins the story quite sure of her powers but after “the end of the world” she questions her powers and refrains from using them. She is also understandably depressed for bringing about the deaths of so many people. She does wallow a bit in self-pity but her friends try to keep her from going too far. She eventually finds the strength she needs to live in this terrible world. One thing that did drive me crazy about her was that her parents were killed because of her association with Duncan. She brings this up a lot, often complaining about it to herself but then acting different from her thoughts.

Duncan is an incredibly hot vampire. He has been doing everything he can to keep Kimber alive. He does have an ulterior motive for keeping Kimber around so that did make me lose a teeny tiny amount of respect for him.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters and their sexual chemistry. Natalie and Aodhán are around for most of the story but it was Aodhán’s mysteriousness that really drew me in to this character.

Overall, Vampire’s Hunger was kind of like The Walking Dead with vampires added. The vampire element seemed to override the zombies so I was kind of left with a lot more questions than answers but hopefully the next book in this series, Vampire’s Thirst, will answer those and focus more on the zombie element of the story.

Notable Scene:

“If six months ago someone had told me I’d be into zombie bondage, I’d have punched him in the face.” He heaved a sigh and set about lashing the zombie’s ankles to the feet of the vending machine, this time using rope. “There. He’s as secure as I can make him.”

“Okay.” Kimber drew a deep breath. “You stand where he can see you and keep his attention on you. Maybe he won’t realize I’m down at his feet.” She dropped to her knees and sidled forward slowly. The zombie kept its gaze on Aodhán, hands grasping in the air as the undead thing tried to get hold of the fey warrior.

With trembling fingers, she slipped her hand beneath the zombie’s tattered slacks and rested her hand on his leg, just above where his sock had scrunched around his ankle. Closing her eyes, she focused inward, drawing on her ability to tap into the Unseen. After another moment or so she stretched out with her mind to the bit of the Unseen that animated the zombie. A few seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Then raw, black energy surged up, lunging for her just like it had all those months ago with Richard Whitcomb.

The zombie went crazy, jerking against his bindings, his mouth open, ferocious snarls coming from his throat. His teeth snapped together, the sound loud in the otherwise silent basement. She heard the rattle of chains, then a screech and a metallic moaning sound. It took a few seconds for her to realize the zombie was pulling free of his chains.

Just as Aodhán yelled her name, she scrambled away from the undead thing. The fey warrior pulled his sword and shoved the blade through the zombie’s mouth with an upward thrust. He twisted the sword and pulled it free, leaving the lifeless shuffler dangling from his remaining bindings.

She sat on the floor, dragging in air, and tried to calm her thundering heart. The coolness of the concrete bled through the fabric of her sweatpants.

“Well,” Aodhán said. He wasn’t even out of breath. “That went well.”

FTC Advisory: Forever Yours/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Vampire’s Hunger. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.… (plus d'informations)

There is not much of a break between book 1 and book 2. Safe in the Vampire Conclave Kimber works towards a cure for the outbreak. We get plenty of little surprises along the way as well as plenty of romance between Kimber and Duncan. Kimber's up and down emotions was a little annoying but you quickly get over that.

I didn't feel like there was much growth with the characters but the end of the book did a good job of wrapping up the storyline. If your looking for a quick easy paranormal romance. This short series is for you.

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (plus d'informations)