Slayer’s Kiss by Cassi Carver (Shadow Slayers #1)
Urban Fantasy
February 14, 2012
Samhain

Reviewed by Mandi

Not only does Kara manage an apartment building, but she is also  a bartender and a witch. Although, being a witch is something she is not great at. Her best friend Abbey is a witch though, and together they take to the streets at night. Kara was sexually abused earlier in her life, and one of her abilities is being able to track someone if they intend to rape a female. Bringing Abbey along, they are usually able to subdue the predator before he can finish the deed, and then usually let the police handle the rest. But there is a very dark presence on the streets these nights, raping and murdering and Kara and Abbey might be over their heads to try to bring this guy down.

Meanwhile, Kara has two very sexy new tenants in her building. Julian and Gavin kind of rush into her life, and she is not sure what to make of it. Her hormones go into total overdrive when she is near them, and she is not sure what to make of it. All she can think about is one of them (it turns out to be Julian) physically pleasuring her. Unknown to her, there is a good explanation for all this.

Julian and Gavin are actually fallen angels, and Kara is one of the last females of her kind. (there is a long, messy explanation as to exactly what Kara is, that you can find out when you read the book.)  They are watching her because it is close to the time when Kara should reach maturity, going through a big transition and coming into her powers. Of course, at first Kara knows none of this. She just thinks she is a witch, a poor one at that. And she is a lucky girl that these two gorgeous (and incredibly well endowed – we are talking big time here) men are into her.

Slayer’s Kiss starts out really well. This is definitely an urban fantasy but with heavy erotic sex scenes. To start, Kara is a fun heroine. Flirty, funny, sarcastic – I enjoyed getting to know her and her BFF Abbey. At the beginning of this book there is this strange, dark “being” lurking around her, and that definitely puts some intrigue into the beginning pages. Then Gavin and Julian show up. As the reader you know they aren’t quite human, but at this point, Kara just thinks two hunky guys are her new tenants. And her hormones just explode. Now, Gavin and Julian are not suppose to have sex with Kara. They are called Mercury Lords, and it is forbidden for these Lords to bond to a woman. So, Gavin has the first sexual encounter with Kara and behaves himself somewhat, but Julian just goes all at it. And here is where I start to have a little trouble.

Kara knows these guys for a matter of hours before Gavin has his face between her legs. Fine, I realize her hormones are wacky because all of the paranormal stuff going on. But the next day, Julian and her have sex. She doesn’t know these guys, and she is  having unprotected sex with them? Worse, throughout the book, she is always mad at Gavin because he wouldn’t have sex with her. She equates having sex, to “liking me.” I don’t’ like that. She has the attitude of – if you like me, you’d kiss me. She started to turn into this immature, whiny heroine who stomped her foot when a man wouldn’t slake her sexual needs.

Besides all that, I really think the last two-thirds of this book loses focus. It starts to take this large scope and there seemed to be so much thrown at the reader, that it was hard to stay focused on the story. The dark, dangerous presence that Kara first wonders about in the beginning of the book, isn’t explored very much until the end. All of a sudden, we are taken to a different land, and we have to learn all of these rules and customs for these fallen angels and I lost interest. It felt like Kara would get mad at Julian or Gavin and the next page be ripping their clothes off. I just never understood what exactly was so special about Kara that it would have every fallen angel fall to their knees for her.

I like this author’s voice – there are funny moments and this book has some very sexy moments. I just don’t think this was the right story for me. It felt too long, and the heroine was just not a favorite of mine.

Rating: C

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