Keri ArthurReseñas

If you like gratuitous sex, sex while she's drugged and unconscious, nonconsensual impregnating, physical abuse, physical desire that makes you melt for an evil rapist bastard while you are trapped in your mind screaming no, and an FMC who gets kidnapped, almost dies multiple times, and then stabs the rapey guy in the shoulder instead of his balls then you might love this book. I didn't, but just like Riley, I kept going physically until the end even when I felt ill and wanted to leave so badly.

'Blood Kissed' was an entertaining Australian Urban Fantasy novel that kicks off a series that I think will become a comfort read of mine. comfort read Urban Fantasy.

The story is a satisfying mix of magical thriller accented with sassy humour and a dash of romance. It has everything you'd expect in an Urban Fantasy: witches, werewolves, vampires and even a zombie but with enough trope twisting to keep everything fresh. The plot was good thriller material with lots of action: abduction, murders, attacks on the good guys and a few surprises along the way. It was also crafted to introduce the main characters who are likely to form the ensemble cast in a series and to speed up the world-building.

The thing I liked most about the book was the relationship between Lizzie Grace and her human witch Familiar, Belle Kent. The idea of a witch having a lesser witch as a Familiar was fresh and fun, especially as the chemistry between the two of them worked so well. I loved that they could speak into each other's minds, that they had complementary strengths and that they respected one another. They're both heterosexual so the partnership is not sexual but it is a lifelong commitment.

I liked the magic system used by the witches and I loved the addition of possibly sentient Wild Magic. The concept of werewolves in modern Australia living on semi-autonomous reservations in the bush and then encouraging tourism to generate revenue amused me. They share a secret past which I'm sure will fuel their future adventures and their banter lifted the book.

I'd been worried that 'Blood Kiss' might be an early example of Romantasy, a genre that doesn't appeal to me but it turned out to be a fantasy with eye-candy romance on the side. I liked that romance parts weren't too eye-rollingly gushy and that they helped move the plot forward. Even so, the romance was still the most trope-heavy part of the plot. Thankfully, the relationship between Lizzie and Belle stayed centre stage, making the romance a relish rather than a main course.

I recommend the audiobook version of 'Blood Kissed'. Katherine Littrell kept the text moving and provided distinct and appropriate voices for the characters.

'Blood Kissed' works as a standalone novel but the set-up offers enough promise that I'll know I'll be back for more.½

I like strong heroines, lots of action, multiple subplots, character development, a good storyline, and compelling writing; and this book fulfills. Riley Jensen is a powerful personality, whose paranormal abilities are only beginning to surface. She is being courted by her twin brother's, Rhoan, covert agency to be a guardian and she is resisting those overtures. The disappearance of her brother, though, causes her to forge an uneasy alliance with the agency in order to rescue her brother.

A lot of reviewers complain about the amount of sex and the rape scene, but, Riley's drive to have sex at the full moon phase is secondary to the plot other than it nearly defeats her ability to solve her brother's disappearance and the larger threat behind it. The book also sets up a future love interest for Riley in the form of the vampire Quinn; and, it's clear that Riley could easily be monogamous if Quinn were only able to set aside his distrust of werewolves caused by previous betrayals of the lupi kind.

Why do I always forget this is such a kickass series???!!!
It takes me forever to start the next instalment and then I pretty much devour it. Afterwards, I'm like, must read the next book sooner aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I forget.
Granted, there are a lot of good books out there but omg! If you like all things supernatural with a kickass heroine, you really need to read this series! Oh and while there is a lot of sex in this instalment, it's not very graphic, so go ahead and pick it up!

While I really liked the book, there were some things that disappointed me a bit. One thing was the pacing: things went from a normal pace to a rollercoaster, the end. It just felt so sudden, without some much-needed answers. But hey, now we have another very very evil bad guy on the loose gunning for Riley. Hope he will bring more to the table.
Another were the characters we met, Berna and Nerida. I'm still trying to find out how they fit in the whole picture and what added value they brought. Oh, and what's with being nude, the whole time?
And last, Riley's growing abilities, she seems to master them pretty quickly even though they are new. How could Quinn or Jack not pick up on those, being the better psychics? It just left a lot of question marks in my head.

But all in all, it really was another great book, honestly! Quinn and Riley are so good together, I have high hopes for them, though that would also mean that her wish for a family won't come true :( ... but still, team Quinn!

Wow, I just finished the book and I'm stunned. So many twists and turns, you really don't know what's going to happen, who's a bad guy or who isn't.... amazing writing.

World-building is great, scenes and environments are well described, very detailed and diverse. Moving back to familiar haunts from the first book, building up our view of the world and the people and species living there.

Character development is excellent. We follow our main heroine Riley throughout different ordeals, throughout tough decisions and here thoughts and feelings concerning her life, work and her lovers.
The rest of our cast have a lot to say, layers of lies, deceit, feelings, love, honour,... all mixed up making a very rich and entertaining story.

Pacing and flow were great, a hell of a lot action, just enough downtime to catch your breath and be bewildered about the last turn of events.

The book in itself was well written, no major errors found, the small ones (while sometimes a tad annoying) didn't pull me out of the story. And yes, there is sex described in this book... a lot of is, though not over the top.

All in all, a hell of a book, loving this series!!! Very much looking forward to the next instalment.

The book started great with Riley having to same some humans. This showed us she doesn't run from a fight (or what she would call her duty) to protect humans even if she is only a guardian liaison and does mostly paperwork. It also showed the twisted personality of one of the guardians that actually do the protecting (or well.. should do).

When her twin brother goes missing, Riley steps up her game and makes it her mission to find him and bring him back home. If only it was that simple though, as things go far beyond the original scope and Riley finds herself deeper into the mess than she thought. Add to that her wolf part is in moon heat... yeah.. timing is everything they say.

Some would call it PNR but I think I'll go with sexy urban fantasy. Yes there is (a lot) of sex going on.. werewolves in moon heat and all that, but the bigger part of the story is still focussed around Riley, her allies / enemies, the investigation and lets not forget the handsome vampire Quinn.

World building was good as was character creation, but the development was lacking. We didn't really get a feel of who the characters are, what their backstory is, why they react this way (apart from the history Quinn has with werewolves). I hope we get to know the cast more in depth in next book, it would be a shame since it has so much potential!

The flow was great, not too much action at once (well.. apart from the sex) and quite a lot of interaction which was nice. I mean, a good conversation really helps the story along.

While the plot was super and the story had me hooked, it still felt as if we've only touched the top of what hopefully will be a whole damn iceberg. As I've said, this has so much potential, I will absolutely read the rest, just hope we get that much needed 'feel' for the cast.

The first book was entertaining enough. Not particularly original but willing to subvert expectations and avoid at least some of the beaten path of the genre.

But the second, as well as the third book, are carbon copies of this one. The details are different but the whole plot construction template is identical.

I kept reading because I was intrigued by the overall plot but I am not willing to listen to a 300-page book over and over again just for 10 pages of main story arch in each.

I don’t know what happened between book 1 and book 2 but the characters felt exceptionally flat and meant to be filler more than part of what’s tying everything together. For a book based in Australia you can’t really feel it, there’s not enough diverse characters or the feel of the surrounding town to make it really feel like your actually in Australia… so this one felt exceptionally bland for me.

I won’t lie I have half way through this audiobook before I even knew it was based in Australia…. So for me the characters were really diverse or dynamic and I thought that was just because it was the first book and there would be room to improve. But it’s a pretty typical paranormal mystery series with nothing really different to make to it stand out about the others.

Well first off, I think I read this a long time ago after it was first released but still read it again. Back then It was hard for me to find anything by Keri Arthur. This is her first book from way back when. She is now a New York Times Best Seller. It was a pretty quick easy read. I believe the first book gives you enough information to want to read the rest of the series.

I'm heart broken

Soooooo yeah.

This book is the end of who's been after Riley. She's also taking the next step at becoming a guardian. Her psychic abilities are growing and she's not sure how to control them completely.

Kade is wonderful but we only see him and Kellan shortly


Quinn is still being a jerk. It's sooo frustrating as Riley is a strong woman but it seems like all her thoughts go out the window when he's around. sigh.... HUGE sigh....

So Riley's 2 mates were using her.. there's a crazy plan afoot to get her.
Quinn's back and he's totally a judgemental jerk- not listening to her.. it's not cool.
Kade seems to be the only one taking care of her.
Kellen is a fun new wolf for her to play with.

She's slowly coming to grips with her vampire side.

Sooo Quinn is a jerk..we knew that...but we find out how much in this book.
I just can't even...

Hot and steamy, though some is a bit unbelievable...

I like Riley- a wolf/vampire who speaks her mind and is fiercely protective of her brother. She's not really embraced the vampire half though.

This book managed to keep my attention.

skipped most of the creepy parts near the end. Mainly out of boredom. Kinda disappointed in the relationship issues that continue to plague Riley. She prob is too, though.

Hopefully the next title will be a bit more entertaining.

Loved the book but now it seems she stopped writing in this series so I am bummed out.

Another book from LibraryThing's recommendation engine, and another good library book. Fortunately, as the author is apparently an Aussie, my local libraries have it; I think if I'd bought this one I might have felt more ambivalent about it.

Blood Kissed is a pretty standard Urban Fantasy story with your wares, vampires, witches, etc. and it's surprisingly well written for a self published book (yes, I'm biased and I'm comfortable with it as the vast body of self published works out there support my bias against them). It's not on a par with Ilona Andrews or Patricia Briggs, but it does a respectable job of coming close. The characters are engaging, the world building seems solid and the plot is very straight forward. An easy and engaging read for when one is in the mood for some urban fantasy.

My library seems to have the entire series, so I'll likely be dipping back in sooner rather than later.½

I have now found another favorite series. I have been in a reading funk for some weeks now, starting a book but not finishing because I somehow lost interest or found one of the main characters too annoying. Blood Kissed has effectively taken me out of this funk. I couldn't put the book down. I found the action exciting and the characters sensible and likable.

pretty well written, however I am struggling to connect with the main character

I don't know what it came over my mind when I picked this up from the library :/

At least I gave it a chance..

Sooo I began reading this series because
A. someone said that the main character was a woman who had no hang-ups about sex.
--> LOVED THAT!

B. It was cheap.

BUT

I did not loved it or sometimes even liked it. And like the very helpful person I am... I can't tell you why. Some of it has to do with the... dubcon-ish sex. Some of it had to do with the weirdass 'mystery' that seemed to be all over the place.

Sooo I don't know if I will continue reading this series. Part of me HAS TO but part of me thinks 'meh why should I?'