Blue-Blooded Vamp Review

Blue-Blooded Vamp (Sabina Kane #5)
-       Jaye Wells

Publisher: Orbit

E-Arc received courtesy of Netgalley and Hachette Book Group

Sabina Kane is on the hunt. Her prey: Cain, the father of the vampire race and the one who murdered her family and her friends. Unfortunately, Cain is hunting Sabina, too. The one man who holds the key to defeating Cain is, of course, Abel. A mage with secrets to spare and, hopefully, the power to match it. Unfortunately, for Sabina, he's in Rome and may not want to be found. Sabina sets out for Italy with her friends, Giguhl and Adam Lazarus, to track down the only man who can get her the revenge she hungers for. But will he help her or oppose her? And just who is Abel, really? Worst of all, when Sabina figures out the goddess Lilith has a plan for her-she realizes this trip is getting deadlier by the minute.
As they say: when in Rome-SURVIVE

Oh, Sabina! You’ve come so far since we first encountered you as a vampire assassin for your grandmother in Red-Headed Stepchild. Discovering your mage half and embracing friendship and family, fighting your destiny and forging unusual alliances with many creatures – it’s been a real rollercoaster ride. This is your final book and while I won’t giveaway the ending, let’s just say I was more than satisfied!

Sabina, Adam and Giguhl are hunting down Cain, the father of the vampire race who is determined to bring Lilith back to Earth, which would kill all the dark races – mage, vampire, fae and demon. Their mission is a very personal one and Sabina particularly wants revenge. She has that forceful spark that we fell for in the first place, but this time she has a team that she loves. And the fact that they share the mission and fight together is a major step for Sabina, demonstrating just how far she has come since the beginning. Adam and Sabina are brought closer together here having been tested in the past and the fact that Adam could ‘read’ Sabina so well was a great touch. While she may have grown, Sabina still has a temper and tends to speak first and think second. Giguhl still has a smart mouth and some of the best lines, while mage Adam is just a dreamy guy who completely accepts Sabina for who she is now. I want to be part of their group!

Once again the pace is fast paced with solid action mixed with emotional depth. New characters are introduced with plenty of cameos from old friends giving a great range of the dark races world. The stakes are much higher than they have ever been – and yet much more personal than ever before. There is a real sense of perspective with plenty of locations both in the real world and the underworld for our characters to explore.

This really is a series where each books has built on the previous one to develop this world without repeating anything and one I would recommend to all UF fans. I confess it took until the third book for me to completely love it, but now it is one of my favourites.

Recommended for fans of Patricia Briggs and Kelley Armstrong. 9 out of 10.

Early Review: Silver-Tongued Devil

Silver-Tongued Devil (Sabina Kane 4)

-          Jaye Wells

Publisher: UK – Orbit

E-Arc courtesy of netgalley and Orbit

**Warning – Contains spoiler for the first 3 books**

Life is looking up for Sabina Kane. Now that her scheming grandmother is dead, the threat of war has passed and the rulers of the dark races are about to sign a treaty to ensure ongoing peace. Her relationship with sexy mage Adam Lazarus is strong and all her friends are around her. Even her magic training is progressing further than she ever expected. The only two dark spots in her otherwise settled life are her guilt over her sister Maisie's fragile mental state and Sabina's own sinking sense that she's got unfinished business with Cain, the mysterious cult leader she let get away months earlier. When a string of murders rock the New York dark races community and threatens to stall the peace negotiations, Sabina finds herself helping to find the killer. Her investigation leads her down troubling paths that have her questioning everything - and everyone - she knows. And the closer she gets to the murderer, the more Sabina realises this is one foe she may not able to kill.

After defeating her vampire Grandmother and the Cast of Nod, rescuing her twin sister, Maisey and finally getting together with Mage hottie, Adam, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Sabina’s worries were over. Unfortunately it turns out normal life is just as difficult as war time when you’re a half vampire, half-mage chosen one. Will Sabina ever tell Adam about her one-stand with Slade, leader of the New York vamps before she and Adam got together? Will Maisey recover from the torture their vampire grandmother put her through? Who is murdering vampires in New York? Can Sabina really live on bagged blood? And will Gighul ever ask Sabina onto his roller-ball team?

It took less than a page for me to catch up with Sabina and immerse myself in her world again. She has changed so much since we first met her in Red-Headed Stepchild, finally learning to trust and open up to others – particularly her boyfriend Adam. She is now surrounded by those who care for her, from Gighul - her demon minion, Maisey - her twin sister, Ruth - Adam’s aunt and Sabina’s magic mentor and many other friends. But she is still opinionated, prone to avoiding verbal confrontation, snarky, kick-butting and strangely vulernable.

The story starts out strangely domesticated – even with a couple of gruesome murders and upcoming peace talks to worry about, but by the end the stakes are raised so high, both personally and for the world that I’m left desperate for the next book to see what happens next. There is some great relationship moments as Sabina learns how much she is trusted and cared for, as well as some clever mirroring if what she was like at the start of the series. The dream sequences are bizarre and captivating. The action sequences are involving and feel like you have to duck as the punches come out of the page.

This is a great series where the heroine is a genuinely conflicted and you want her to find her humanity – even if she is half vampire and half mage! A series which has just as many emotional events as action packed ones.

Recommended for fans of Jennifer Estep and Patricia Briggs. 9 out of 10

Green Eyed Demon Early Review

Green Eyed Demon (Sabina Kane 3)

-       Jaye Wells

Publisher Orbit - released on 3rd February in UK and 22nd February in US

The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. With her sister taken by mysterious captors, the Dark Races on the brink of war and a sinister order manipulating everyone behind the scenes, she's really got her work cut out. Using information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks - the sexy mage Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, the Mischief demon - head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and, perhaps most frightening of all, humans. But before Sabina can save those she cares about, she's got to save herself from the ghosts of her former life. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.

This is the third Sabina Kane book and the strongest so far. I really enjoyed Red Headed Stepchild and Mage in Black but this is my favourite in the series – they just keep getting better with each book. Sabina has come a long from the heartless assassin we first met. Her circle of acquaintances has expanded to include friends, family and lovers. She is still short tempered and prone to punching first and asking questions later, but she has let herself be vulnerable and more trusting than she was (with some people at least!).

In addition to the evolution of Sabina into a more rounded individual, the storyline benefits from having a strong focus. Sabina wants to find and rescue her sister from her grandmother’s clutches. This one aim seemed to tighten the story for me and there was less teaching and waiting around that happened than in the previous stories. This meant there was plenty of action with rock stars, weres and zombies all getting some cool scenes – I especially like the expansion of Sabina Chronic powers which I hope will explored further in the series.

As ever, what makes Sabina such a readable heroine is her sarkiness and her relationships with both Adam and her minion Giguhl are such fun to read. A great addition to Sabina’s friends this time is the fae, Brooks and what he goes through was a heart breaking experience. I hope he re-appears in the next book!

Overall this was a sassy, fun read – the most action packed and exciting adventure yet for Sabina and definitely a series most Urban Fantasy fans should pick up.

Recommended for fans of Patricia Briggs and Devon Monk. 9 out of 10

This is an advanced review courtesy of Orbit and netgallery.

The Mage In Black Review

The Mage In Black (Sabina Kane 2)

-          Jay Wells

Publisher: UK – Orbit

Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, leader of the vampire race, wants her dead. So when she arrives in New York to meet her mage relatives, the reunion puts the fun in dysfunctional. Not only is mage culture completely bizarre, but everyone seems to think she's some kind of 'Chosen' who'll unite the dark races. Sabina doesn't care who chose her, she's not into destiny. But the mages aren't Sabina's only problem. In New York's Black Light District, she has run-ins with fighting demons, hostile werewolves and an opportunistic old flame. Sabina thought she'd take a bite out of the Big Apple - but it looks like it wants to bite back.

I read the first of the Sabine Kane books, Red-Headed Stepchild a few weeks ago and quite enjoyed it (Read my review here). Picking up immediately following the end of the first book, this one sees Sabina move from California to New York and exploring her mage heritage along with some unexpected family and an old flame re-appears.

As before Sabina is a girl who reveals in action and snarky comments. I love her conversations with her demon minion, Giguhl – there is a great banter between the two of them that flies of the page. This time round Sabina is a little more relaxed, she’s not undercover this  time so you get to explore her off time habits in more detail. Whether it’s exploring her suppressed mage powers or just hanging out at the bar I felt I got to see more of Sabina ticks this time. While there wasn’t the urgency that the first novel had, there is still the over-hanging threat of war and Sabina’s Grandmother is still after her for her ‘betrayal’ in the first book. All this builds up to a huge finale and a cliff hanger ending – I’m looking forward to Green-Eyed Demon, the third book released in March 2011.

Once again I was swept up with the story and practically inhaled the whole book! While Sabina doesn’t linger in my imagination as much as others there (I’m thinking Elana Michaels and Mercy Thompson) I do enjoy spending time in her world – if only for some genuine amusing banter and some great fight scenes.

Recommended for Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris fans. 8 out of 10

Red-Headed Stepchild Review

Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane - Book 1)
- Jaye Wells

Publisher: UK – Orbit

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina doesn't really fit in. And being an assassin - the only profession fit for an outcast - doesn't help matters. But she's never brought her work home. Until now. Her latest mission is uncomfortably complex, and threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races. As Sabina scrambles to figure out which side she's on, she uncovers a tangled political web, some nasty facts about her family and some unexpected new talents. Any of these things could be worryingly life-changing, but together, they could be fatal ...

I picked this book up shortly after it first came out having been persuaded by the advertising campaign, but it’s never made it to the top of my TBR pile until now. Having seen that my TBR pile features a lot of Urban Fantasy I’ve decided to start reading and weed out the good (loads of series for me to follow!) from the dreadful (plenty of that in the genre as well!).
RH SC was an easy read. The world was nothing new to readers of UF but has some fun twists on the usual set up such as apple being poisonous to vampires (even cider!). At it’s heart it’s a lonely, hard-assed girl learning to connect to people. Sabina doesn’t worry about killing people (she is an assassin after all) or drinking blood, but over the course of the story she makes friends with a wood Nymph and starts to trust a mage – a race vampires usually despise. She also learns her family isn’t all she thought it was. There was nothing challenging in the story but it balanced some light hearted moment involving a demon cat and action as well skating close to issues of rape and assault, but generally landed on the lighter side. There are a few revelations which set up the next two books and will have me looking out for the next book - The Mage in Black.

Fans of Kitty Noville and Sookie Stackhouse might enjoy this for a different view on creatures of the night.

Rating: 7 out of 10