Wednesday Reads: A Hunger Like No Other

Every Wednesday (or most Wednesdays, or some Wednesdays) will bring you book reviews. Of a special variety. Yes, I am telling you which books are awesome and totally worth reading. But the point of my reviews is to hopefully make you conscious of the market and why this particular book was published: quality of writing, character and plot development, unique quirks of writing, characters, and plot that make it stand out. Take my tips to your own reading and writing, and through Constant Vigilance, will you succeed as a writer.

A Hunger Like No Other is the first installment of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. (Some lists will list it as the second installment, but the first is a novella, and Hunger stands well on its own as the first--plus, I didn't read it as I am, in fact, listening to the series, and the novella's readers did not receive good reviews).

Synopsis: From the synopsis of any book you read, you can teach yourself how to write a query letter. This section will both tell you about the book, and what you should learn from the back cover blurb.
 
This is my favorite structure for romance, first one of the lovers (male or female) then the second, and if you need a third paragraph, it sums it all up so nicely. Note here, how you get a sense of the world without a dedicated sentence to world building. Yet you still know what and where and especially the who. Romance lovers are immediately sold on the why we care.

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her…

After enduring years of torture from the vampire Horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy...

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents--until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae--and their notorious dark desire--ebb as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all consuming desire...

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be...?

Brownie Points: I feel there is a stereotype developing about Paranormal Romance, especially with the upsurge of YA ParaRom and it's this: Mortal girl meets immortal male, he possesses her, her life changes to accommodate his. And what I love about Kresley Cole is that most of her novels take place solidly in The Lore (we are aware of the humans, but we are very much in the paranormal world with the paranormal creatures). So there's that Brownie Point. Another is Emmaline, a beautiful example of a Weak Female Lead who becomes sure of herself in the end, learning how to accept herself and trust in her own strength. But never at any point during her WFL moments is she a weak character--we know her quirks, her unique voice, everything that has made her who she is and will become.

Beefs: Honestly, none come to mind.

The Narrator's Performance: I give the narrator of the audio book, Robert Petkoff, a 9 out of ten. I became engaged in his story telling, his accents were spot-on, he didn't read too slow or too fast, inflections and pauses were great. The only thing keeping his performance from a 10 is he is male and I remembered it every time he read the woman's voice (very few readers, male or female, can get a 10 out of 10 for this reason).

Who should read it: Anyone who loves ParaRom, obviously. I was recommended this book after I'd complained I had read all of JR Ward's novels. KC is a true contender for the top spot on my "Favorite ParaRom Authors." High praise if you know my love of Ward. So if you compare your writing to Ward, you have to read KC (among others of course).

Happy reading!