Showing posts with label Eternal Press. Show all posts

Title: Dhampir Passions

Author: Mary Corrales

Publisher: Eternal Press, 2009

Buy Link: Buy Dhampir Passions Here!

Rating: You Could Read

Reviewer: Nerine Dorman

Blurb:

Can everlasting love be found in a paranormal cauldron of greed, bloodlust, passion and murder?

Living in the post-war American Western Barrans, Linea Kamiya is in danger of becoming a vamp master's minion. While she hides Desmondi's evil mark from the townsfolk of Whickeup, the town council intends to take her farmland for themselves. Linea's only hope lies with an enigmatic stranger.

Raduslav Dracula is hunting for the vampire who stole the Draculesti Bloodstone from his family's gravesite. When Radu's attraction to Linea turns physical, he knows he will have to battle with his heart as well as the demon Desmondi.

Is the half-blood Dhampir strong enough to embrace his own cursed nature to defeat Desmondi?

Review:

Dhampir Passions presents an intriguing premise in its dystopian futuristic setting but misses the mark when it comes to solid world-building and overall execution. For one, I feel that there's a lot of "tell" but not enough "show". It's all fine and well to have mutant "Mammoth Wheat" but I wanted to see this; know more about the mechanics and sociology of this post-apocalyptic world. The villagers seem to react with mob mentality, as an example. A lot of intriguing threads are presented, but are not fully developed.

The pacing also needed attention, progressing often in a very haphazard fashion. As a reader I felt rushed, the characters not given enough space to develop their motivations, which were murky, at best. At times the text felt awkward and some of the word choices out of place. Linea comes across as a bit of a Mary Sue, Radu idealized and a bit too stoic for his own good. I wanted to connect with them, but couldn't.

I felt that the author was holding me at arm's length, as though I were reading the script for a TV programme. In fact, I felt that distance of a viewer, rather than reader, who emotionally engages with a story. I really wanted to like Dhampir Passions but, to be quite honest, it needed a lot more work before publication. This is very much a case of "almost, but not quite there" for author Mary Corrales.

Title : Gypsy Crystal

Author: Lorrie Unites-Struiff

Publisher: Eternal Press

Buy Link: Buy Gypsy Crystal Here!

Rating : You Want To Read

Reviewed By : Jodie Pierce

Blurb :

When a ritual killer starts terrorizing her town, FBI agent Matt Boulet is sent to lead the task force to catch the murderer. While Rita feels she has a connection with Agent Boulet, she senses he is holding back a deep dark secret about the killer. Her suspicions deepen when she learns another secret about her Roma family-one she finds impossible to swallow.

Review :

Gypsy girl, Rita Moldova is of Romanian descent. Her mother is old school, she reads tea leaves and palms. Rita has a secret gift. She wears an amulet that gives of signals of good and bad. It has allowed her in the past to see into the eyes of the dead people they recover. The new FBI Agent, Matt Boulet who's come into town from New Orleans has a secret gift too. He is searching for the same killer Rita's department has been looking for. The killer exsanguates all the blood from the victims, cuts a hole in their neck and dumps the bodies somewhere random. Rita is caught by the killer on a sting operation but when he samples her blood he calls her poison and dumps her out of his vehicle. Rita and Matt go to her mother for answers. Together, they find out that the killer is a long lost relative of Rita's and he is a vampire. Will they be able to stop Lucian before he can kill again? Who will lose their life in battling him? Will Matt and Rita not only come together at work but come together in the bedroom as well? What is Matt's secret?

The development of the characters in this story was great. The background on Rita was well developed and placed perfectly in the story. She was very likeable, strong yet innocent in a way. The lack of background for Matt made him more mysterious at first. He was the outsider. The mysterious knight in shining armor. The whole back story on Lucian was brilliant and well placed within the story. He was really so awful and you really got the sense of that from reading it. I really connected with the characters and when we lost one of them, I actually felt a brief sense of loss myself.

I found the story to be very interesting with a new twist on the old vampire story. It was written so well it was as if I was right there in the book with the characters. The chapters were short and kept you moving quickly through the book. I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who loves a little action, paranormal and suspense in their readings.