I am officially the last person to put down any kind of historical romance, chick lit, or other such genres that are usually reduced to crappy smut, because, who am I kidding? I really liked this book. I’m not obsessed; I won’t be purchasing the next four in the series and chomping through them immediately, but I’m definitely considering borrowing them from work (we can do that) and reading them before the year is out.

Okay so I wasn’t always the last person to put down these genres, thinking that yes, they were a load of crap, but only because the selections I had read from said genres were a load of crap. This, however, surprised me. I found myself completely entrapped in the narrative as soon as I picked it up. In fact, I picked it up while I was at work, which is a big no-no, and read through the first few chapters in a breeze; I was actually upset when we had to close! It wasn’t a mystery to me that this would be how I spent my time during the day today.

Now I have to get into the obvious comparisons that no one is waiting for: Anne Rice’s vampires. I am a fan of the Anne Rice books, partly because they’re, in essence, really detailed historical novels with a touch of paranormal - but also because they’re well written and I like her views on what vampires are. I like Marius’ appreciation of art, and as I was telling Megan last night, this character is written so well that he’s my only actual “character crush.” I’ve tried to read other vampire novels but none of them were on par with Anne Rice, so I gave up.

However, these vampires I can appreciate. I like that they’re vampires from birth - that you don’t “turn” someone into a vampire, but that a person becomes a vampire because it’s in his/her blood. I’m extremely interested in the lore; I want to know more about the myths surrounding Wrath, about the customs and beliefs held by the population, and what’s going on with this Omen thing?

It’s a little giggle-worthy for a few reasons: the sex for one, which I’ve always treated as though I’m stuck in 7th grade, but the fact that their names are Wrath, Rhage, Tohrment, Zsadist, and other ridiculous laughter-enhancing things. I mean, I kept reading “Tohr” as “Thor” and thinking of a blonde-haired, muscled god, which clearly didn’t describe Tohrment (but I suppose it described Phury pretty well). The story was there, though, and it was deep.

This year seems to be all about giving things chances - mystery books, new authors, the “should read” classics, non-fiction, and paranormal romance. I like where this is going, and I’m ready to read the next in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. In fact, I’m ready to join message boards.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking this moment to buy some oatmeal creme pies before I start my next book.

Some other thoughts can be found in these posts, which were made during my 12 hour read-a-thon:
· Hour 1
· Hour 3
· Hour 5
· Hour 7
· Hour 9

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