I have a signed paperback of Vampire Heir, by Heather Renee. I believe it was purchased through an online multi-author event. But it’s possible I won it somewhere instead.
Sometimes befriending the enemy is the only option.
After losing my family, I’ve spent the last seven years hunting the monsters who killed them. I know my purpose and what I want most in this world. At least I did until a striking vampire shows up just in time for the threats to begin.
Maciah West makes me feel ways I shouldn’t and tells me things that can’t be possible. I don’t want to believe him, but as my past finds its way back into the present, I don’t really have a choice.
Even as I begin to accept the new changes in my life—and my growing feelings for Maciah—I don’t let that deter me from my goals. I’m still a vampire hunter and I’ll do whatever it takes to get the vengeance I’ve been fighting for.
No matter how many vampires are out for my blood.
I’ve read one other Heather Renee book. My review of that book starts out, “This book is 295 pages long and basically nothing happens until the last 5 pages, when some action finally happens…” Renee seems to have a formula. The numbers are a bit off; my paperback copy of Vampire Heir is 284 pages, and something finally happens in the last 20 or so pages. But otherwise, this snippet of review works just as well here as it did for Wolf Kissed.
I was simply bored throughout. The book seems to bounce from one pointless event to the next at random. The FMC has the emotional depth of a firefly, and I simply didn’t like her. (I kept thinking of Barrie’s Tinker Bell, who can only feel one emotion at a time, and it’s usually anger.) I liked the MMC, but he’s a paper cutout with no depth or development. I felt zero chemistry in the instant (but not insta-love even) relationship. The side characters are stereotypes, and all sound exactly the same. And the book is disappointingly predictable.
I own several of Renee’s books that I’ve picked up here and there. So, I’d hoped disliking the first was a one-off. Not every book is right for every reader. But I’m beginning to think her writing formula is what’s not for me, and therefore, I’m unlikely to enjoy any of them.
In 2021, I picked S. Young‘s War of Hearts up as an Amazon freebie. I finally got around to reading it.
Thea Quinn has no idea what she is. All she knows is that her abilities have been a plague upon her life since she was a child. After years of suffering at the hands of a megalomaniac, Thea escaped and has been on the run ever since.
The leadership and protection of his pack are of the utmost importance to Conall MacLennan, Alpha and Chief of Clan MacLennan, the last werewolf pack in Scotland. Which is why watching his sister slowly die of a lycanthropic disease is emotional torture. When Conall is approached by a businessman who offers a cure for his sister in exchange for the use of Conall’s rare tracking ability, Conall forges an unbreakable contract with him. He has to find and retrieve the key to the cure: dangerous murderer, Thea Quinn.
Thea’s attempts to evade the ruthless werewolf are not only thwarted by the Alpha, but by outside dangers. With no choice but to rely on one another for survival, truths are revealed, intensifying a passionate connection they both fight to resist. At war with themselves and each other, Conall and Thea’s journey to Scotland forces them to face a heartrending choice between love and betrayal.
I enjoyed this. It reminded me a lot of older PNR, except that it didn’t have a toxic alpha a-hole MMC, and the FMC isn’t a doormat. (Yes, that’s a generalization about gender tropes in older PNR and doesn’t always hold true. But it was definitely the fad for a while.) I mean, it’s not wholly free of the icky genderings. The FMC still finds love but has to give up much of her power, as they so often do (and he doesn’t). She also gets awfully weepy as soon as she accepts him. But, honestly, it was so much less than is common. I’ll take any improvement I can get in this direction.
All in all, I liked the characters a lot. The world and the larger plotline seem interesting enough, and the writing is clean and easy to read. Plus, it didn’t end on a cliffhanger! The villain is pretty cliched, and the whole thing is largely predictable. There are no surprises here. But if you like earlier 2000s PNR, this one, published in 2019, will still serve the purpose.
Elinor Chalamet’s talent to speak with the dead may have landed her in the soup.
Witty and clever, Elinor uses her mediumship skills to hunt for her father’s killer. So when a body in the canal brings her to the morgue, she’s happy to help until Tristan Fontaine, the Duke de Archambeau, takes over the case and places her under house arrest.
Between possessions and poltergeists, she’ll solve the case even if it means putting the duke in his place. Actually, that part of the investigation may be a pleasure!
Welcome to Alenbonné, a coastal city with picturesque promenades along the canals and where the ghosts never sleep. A country where spirits and murder are just a breath away.
Ghost Talker
After a little bit of a rocky start, I ended up enjoying this a lot. I liked the characters, the soon-to-be slow-burning romance pairing, the wit, and I simply had a good time with it. I will be continuing the series.
However, I also thought it felt a bit sloppy. It could use another round of copy edits, especially around homophones (than/then, especially). And more importantly, the big bad that had to be defeated at the end felt much like a breach of the bounds of the world the author had established up until that point. Without too much of a spoiler, it required the existence of a mythical element that nothing in the book up to that point had hinted at existing, taking the book from gaslamp fantasy to straight-up fantasy, in a sense. It felt jarring and very much like an inconsistency. I’ll be curious to see if any other such elements show up in future books because my sense is that they won’t. Of course, my point isn’t so much that I’m making a prediction as stating that the misalignment in this book gives such an impression, and that’s the problem I’m trying to highlight.
All in all, however, like I said, I’ll be reading at least the next one. Though, on a side note, why all the dark-haired cover models for a blond character?
Delicious Death
I’m still enjoying this series. I like Elinor a lot. I’ve always appreciated a practical heroine. Somehow, especially in historic settings. (This series is set in the 1910s.) Though I think Charlotte is my favorite character in the series, we get more of her here than in the first book. The romance is starting to bud just a little bit, and I like the Duke. However, he’s a bit of a cardboard cutout. The romance aspect is definitely in the background, with the mystery taking the main stage here.
My only real complaints are that, as in the first book, the copy editing has a hiccup or two, and Elinor’s deductive skills are sometimes a little too extreme to believe. Regardless, I’ve purchased the rest of the series now and intend to finish it out.
Spirit Guide
I had fun with this third volume of Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries, especially toward the end. Elenor and Tristan have become comfortable enough with one another to show their emotions somewhat openly, irritation especially. And I legitimately laughed at some of their snipes at one another. Nash also threw in some amusing moments in general. “Hm, well, that’s enough of that…” about something truly devastating to the other person was my favorite. It just showed Elenor’s practical personality to its fullest—no hysterics for our girl. We also get one more small step forward in the romance department and see a little more of Tristan’s actual personality. It’s still playing second stage, though, which is fine. I look forward to the next book.
Grey Lady
In general, I’m still very much enjoying this series. I like the characters a lot, and seeing both the FMC save the day and the MMC be 100% on board with that. Plus, the mysteries keep me interested. I do think the addition of the colors/music descriptions while in the Beyond feels cringy, and I was left a little cold by the fact that, even though the Guardian acknowledges he did something HORRIBLE in life, it’s literally never addressed. As with the previous books, I caught a few copy-edit mistakes. But I’ll be continuing the series all the same.
Haunted Grave
This is the first book in the series that ended on a cliffhanger instead of wrapping up so that the next book could start a new mystery. I wasn’t thrilled by that. But the books have also been getting progressively (if only by a little) longer with each one. So, I suppose I get it.
I also didn’t happen to like this one as much as the previous one in general. (I mean, I liked it, but not as much.) The FMC and MMC are officially a couple, and, thus, some of the tension has been lost, but I didn’t really feel like it was replaced with much of anything. One might expect romance, but it’s pretty thin on the ground. Mainly, this felt like a whole lot of running around, rather than clever problem-solving.
Ghastly Mistake (w/ spoiler)
Well, that wrapped up nicely. I felt like the first half of the book was more of a continuation of the previous one, and I was a bit bored. (The last book being my least favorite in the series.) But the second half brings Elinor’s clever, socially irreverent side back to the fore, and I appreciated that. And the not-Duke is marvelously accepting of her quirks.
I probably could have done without the whole
Like in all the books, there were some copy-edit issues on occasion. But honestly, it wasn’t too big a deal. Just enough to notice, really. I’d 100% read another Nash series.
the instant (but not insta-love even) relationship. The side characters are stereotypes, and all sound exactly the same. And the book is disappointingly predictable.
