 | Title: Raven Cursed
Sexual Content: References to sex and rape. Rating:
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Description
The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: Jane Yellowrock.
But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Unless she wants to face a very angry mast vampire, she will have to work overtime to find the killer. It's a good thing she's worth every penny.
Review
As much as I have enjoyed the series overall, RAVEN CURSED now holds the distinction of becoming my favorite Jane Yellowrock book to date. All of the political distractions of Leo’s vampire court fall to the background as Jane heads a security detail in New Orleans, and this leaner, meaner plot style allows Hunter’s characters (at least, those present) to shine.
RAVEN CURSED delivers pure action from page one. Though I lost the thread of the story once, this is one of the most accessible books in the series when it comes to mythology and action. This doesn’t mean new readers should start here (you’d miss out on a wealth of emotional back-story and prior plot threads), but fans of the series will find a lot to enjoy. Jane is coming to an interesting place personally, and has several “come clean” moments that I enjoyed. Rather than being a dark secret, Beast swims closer to the surface of day to day events. I enjoyed that shift (and Beast’s running commentary) and felt that Hunter made some excellent choices in managing the drama of some very high emotional stakes.
Though Hunter cleans up some emotional landmines from prior books, at the close of RAVEN CURSED there are still a lot of romantic choices on the table and some tantalizing changes between Beast and Jane. Both of those situations have me eager to dive into DEATH’S RIVAL this coming year.
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I have got to start this series! Some mythology, a Beast, vampires. So much packed into it, nice review!
ReplyDeleteRaven Cursed is my favorite book out of the series as well. One thing I kept going back to in the romance department is that big cats don't mate for life. There are so many possibilities, but I wondered at the change in Leo. I understand some of it, but I don't trust it.
ReplyDelete@Lexi - Totally worth the investment, these characters keep growing.
ReplyDelete@Scooper - So... I just re-read some Anita Blake last week. And every time Beast said "Big cats don't mate for life" I heard ominous music in the background... Not that I think things are going down that road, Jane has a lot more agency in revealing her nature (and no soulmate incubi to roofie the magic punch), but there are parallels. The series feels like it's on the cusp of a big change, Jane is about to become a major force in this landscape rather than just an enforcer... can't wait!
Julia: That is hilarious because I kept thinking please don't turn her into a woman who sleeps with everybody. Hunter has done an excellent job making me wonder who she's gonna hook up with. I think you're right, though. Things are changing for the better, well for us the readers. :)
ReplyDeleteJulia: That is hilarious because I kept thinking please don't turn her into a woman who sleeps with everybody. Hunter has done an excellent job making me wonder who she's gonna hook up with. I think you're right, though. Things are changing for the better, well for us the readers. :)
ReplyDelete