Author: Michele Hauf
Synopsis (taken from back of book):
Death cocktail is what the vampires call a witch's blood. It's poisonous--a drop will destroy a vampire within minutes. Nikolaus Drake is the rare vampire who has survived his first taste. Now he's on the hunt for the witch who almost brought him to his demise-- Ravin Crosse.
A witch who spends her nights hunting vampire tribes, Ravin has three obligations to fulfill to set her soul free. One of those obligations--crafting a love spell-- twists her world upside down when Nikolaus draws the spell from her veins. Natural enemies rarely make the best bedfellows--but is it possible their intentions are really, truly the same? Can Nikolaus's tribal loyalty survive if he surrenders to desires far darker than his own?
Steph's Summary and Thoughts:
Alright, sounds interesting enough, right? Right away what drew me in just from reading the back cover was the star crossed lover aspect-vampire vs. witch. I'm thinking definitely give this a try, I love me a good 'we are mortal enemies but I can't help myself but I wanna jump you' kind of story line. Usually leads to a good build up for the oh so exciting moments ;) So right way Kiss Me Deadly starts with Nikolaus' rage towards the witch race. Mr. Drake fills us in on a bit of history and how witch's blood is pretty much poison in the disguise of tasty late night snacks aka a nice juicy neck. We soon find out that Drake is attacked by witch blood causing him to die-literally burn to ash. But here's the kicker, some how he survives, becoming what the vampires know as the phoenix (rising from ash-get it ;) ). A phoenix vampire is the most deadly and powerful because they have escaped death. Now good old Niko is on the rampage ready to kill the witch that cause his death and resurrection. I dunno, if you ask me sure I would pissed that I was killed, but coming back as the most powerful vampire out there, yea that deserves a bit of thank you.
Now we get to Ravin, our witch of the hour. Ravin we soon find out is a vampire hunter, sworn to hunt those filthy blood suckers, avenging the death of her parents over 200 years ago. Can we say but over dramatic? Ravin will pretty much do anything to destroy the race, so she makes a pact with the devil (this time we get to know him affectionately as Himself), allowing her to have the Sight-ability to see a vampire via the aura- in returns for her soul. Our witchy friend has three obligations to fulfill in order to get her soul back. Sounds like a pretty decent trade off right? Not really. Himself does the calling, Ravin does the bidding. Done and done. My thoughts are really, you made a deal with the devil and you think you'll get your soul back-ha! Ok keep dreaming my dear, this can you get good... So obligation number two is to create a love spell for Himself. We are never clued into what the first obligation is, but I guess it really doesn't matter at this point. Anyhoo, love potion number 9 is in the works.
Now here's were it starts to get good. Just as Ravin is making a batch of the love potion, Nikolaus comes busting through and kicks the shit out of unsuspecting Ravin. Knowing, he can not die again from the witch's blood, he takes a long drag. Meantime, the surprise attack causes the potion to fall all over Ravin, soaking into her system. Now do you see where this is going? Yep, good old Mr. Drake is instantly in love.
To me this is where the story starts to get weak and pretty fast. Drake professes his love continuously to Ravin, begging to bed her. My thoughts, your a vamp-be dominating! What's stopping you? Most powerful vampire in the world and you can't take control...just do it already! Ok so, eventually Niko does start to listen to my internal lecturing I am giving his character and just takes control forcing Ravin into a very dirty situation. ;) Just like any girl being seduced by a very sexy vampire, she can't resist, even though she knows it totally wrong. Through the rest of the story its the constant inner battle within Ravin over a weeks time of realizing her true feelings for the vampire and her quest to set her soul free. The story moves pretty rapidly from here on out. They both fall in love, the spell is lifted, Nikolas hates her once again, Ravin doesn't know what to do, their feelings are tested...yadda yadda yadda.
My overall thoughts: not enough character build up. The story has a great foundation. Could do wonders if executed properly. The biggest issue, the emotions happen so fast. Yes, I know a love spell is all apart of the equation, but after a weeks time Ravin just suddenly knows that Mr. Drake is it after 200 years of vampire hatred? Yea, I don't buy it. Personally I just am afraid that she doesn't want to let a nice lay go. As soon as the spell is lifted (Which we all knew was gunna happen-big turning point in the book- gotta have one of those right?), Drake is on instant hate, but for only seems like a brief minute before he realizes that even though there was a spell he would have always loved Ravin. Right? Not buying! The introduction of Himself into the whole mess is entertaining, however, reasoning behind his obligations makes no sense. We find out the spell was to always have been used to bring Ravin and Nikolaus together, AND that the third and final obligation would alway be to possess their first born. Wow, big buzz kill there. To me the whole story just started getting campy and quick. Not to mention extremely over the top. After one week and being under the influence they both know that they are meant to be, get married, and start popping out babies. Interesting. Too bad most vampire/witch romances don't have that much luck. Over all, it was entertaining to say the least. Sure, I rolled eyes a few times and had a few what the hell moments, but still it was a good read. I did feel over all that the story was a bit rushed, but hey I guess a love potion will do that to ya.
Rating: 3 stakes (my lucky version of stars, gotta fit the vampire motif!) If you are looking for something extremely light hearted and doesn't take much brain power to get through, this is it.
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