January
17, 2012
Flesh and
Blood (House of Comarré #2)
by Kristen
Painter
Genre: Urban
Fantasy
Publisher:
Orbit
Release
Date: November 1st, 2011
My review
assumes you have read the first novel in the series, Blood Rights, as
this review will include spoilers if you haven’t. This is a series where you have to read in
order or you will miss integral parts of the story. Also, if you haven’t read my review of Blood
Rights, then click here to read.
Author Summary
Those born into the comarré life produced blood in rich, pure,
powerful abundance...
With
the ring of sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and
mortals broken, Chrysabelle and Malkolm’s problems are just beginning.
Chrysabelle still owes Malkolm for his help, but fulfilling that debt means
returning to Corvinestri, the hidden vampire city neither of them is welcome
in.
The
discovery that Chrysabelle has a brother could mean reneging on her promise to
Malkolm, something that might make him angry enough to loose the beast living
inside him. And fulfilling her vow could prove devastating for Chrysabelle —
especially when you throw in power hungry witches, dead fringe vampires, and
the Kubai Mata.
My
Thoughts
Flesh and
Blood is the second installment of the House of Comarré series. The story picks up two weeks after the last
ended. And it really really picks up…
The plot is thickening, side stories are taking place, new characters are introduced,
motives are unraveling, and uneasy alliances are made.
The Ring of Sorrows
The ring is
deemed to have unfathomable power. In
the past, it was guarded by the Kubai Mata (a secret organization that is part
Freemason, part Templar, part Cosa Nostra) to safeguard against evil. It was
stolen by Chrysabelle’s former patron Algernon supposedly on behalf of the
Castus Sanguis (founders of the vampire race), for the power it can yield. Algernon hid the ring in a necklace given to Chrysabelle,
without her knowledge. So Chrysabelle is
in possession of the ring now. And it
seems everyone wants it!
Storylines
This book
has a lot going on...
· There are attempts to retrieve the
Ring of Sorrows by Tatiana/Castus Sanguis & the Kubai Mata.
· Chrysabelle and Malkolm struggle
with their relationship and priorities with everything going on.
· There’s a new bad boy in town,
Creek, who’s a member of the Kubai Mata sent to retrieve the ring from Chrysabelle.
· Doc has a much larger part to play
in this novel with his own dilemma.
· Dominic struggles to get over
Maris’ death as his life becomes entwined with Doc’s from unfinished past
business.
· New characters Aliza and her
daughter Evie are witches that play a role in Doc and Dominic’s conflict.
Castus Sanguis
The Castus
Sanguis are the fallen angels that created the noble vampire race. They know the ring was stolen from the Kubai
Mata and they want its power to create a new race of othernaturals - one that
will be more powerful than any today. Tatiana is working for them to retrieve
the ring believing they will make the vampire House of Tepes (her house) the
most powerful of all the Houses and she will lead the noble vampire race. Tatiana is even crazier than she was before
believe it or not. She kills on a whim
and nobody is safe around her. Despite
her ruthlessness, in the last book, the angel Michael said that Tatiana wasn’t
the biggest bad… This still needs to be unraveled but if she isn’t the biggest
bad, then I can’t wait to see who is!
The Kubai
Mata wants to retrieve the ring to safeguard it against the evil that would
threaten the human race if it fell into the wrong hands. They have sent in an agent, Creek, to find who
has the ring for sure although they suspect its Chrysabelle, and to devise a
way to get it back. These guys seem a
little suspect or shady to me. Or
perhaps they are the good guys. I’m not
sure yet.
If the
relationship between Mal and Chrysabelle wasn’t complicated enough with her
adjusting to no longer being a comarré, and the voices in his head, it gets
more so with the arrival of Creek. Even
though Creek knows he’s there on a mission, he starts to have feelings for Chrysabelle. Also, from reading her mother’s journals, Chrysabelle
discovers she has a brother. So now she
has to decide what her priorities are – help Mal with his curse, find her
brother or kill Tatiana.
See, this
is what I love about this series…you don’t know and anything can happen!!
Doc and
Dominic have larger roles in this book. We
find out about their history and what caused the animosity between them. I felt bad for Doc in that situation. He sure did draw the short straw in that
case. Involved in Doc’s story is more power-hungry
women – Aliza and her daughter Evie.
There was
a lot of time spent on developing the other storylines. So much so I was starting to doubt how or if it
was all going to come together or if the main characters were being overpowered
by the supporting ones. However, Painter
brilliantly brought all these different storylines together and delivered them
in the cleverest way.
There
were resolutions to some storylines however not in all. Thank the goddess because this series is too
good to end yet. There were great leads
in to the next installment. I find
myself wondering what isn’t as it seems…what is Katsumi up to? Did she really
have a change of heart? What are Aliza
and Evie up to? Who else is on this
quest for power that we don’t know yet?
Who’s going to end up protecting the ring and who wants only the power
it can yield? What friendships will
suffer because of it? Why doesn’t
Dominic want it? Who has Tatiana’s
hand? What will happen to Doc after
going through the smoke? Oh, the
suspense!!
Bottom
Line
I liked
this book more than the last with all its intrigue and suspense. I will definitely read on to find out who is
honest and who has ulterior motives. I
love it when I read a novel and am challenged in trying to figure out what
everyone’s angle is. With this series,
you start questioning everyone. I really
look forward to reading the next one – Bad Blood.
Happy Reading!!
4 Bad Boys – Really Enjoyed It!!!!
See my review for House of Comarre Book #3 - Bad Blood
More intriguing than the first? That's very cool. I have to find the time to fit these in.
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