Review: Love Me To Death by Marissa Clarke
Paranormal Romance
Released October 28, 2014
Entangled

Reviewed by Sheena

Favorite Quote: “…Feel free to shout my name at any time now.”  She increased her speed, and he placed his hands on her thighs,loving the feel of her muscles flexing as she rode him.

“My God”

“Elena is sufficient.”

And cue the freaking trumpets! Love Me to Death is a great paranormal – romantic – adventure good ass time!  Genre bending and I loved it.  Characters that not only leap from the pages, they got in my face, introduced themselves and took up fucking residence.  Dastardly villains, frightening vampires, shape shifters, time benders, sorcerers, the Fae and Slayers. And before you dare crinkle your brow- the story was not the least bit cluttered or hampered by such a rich cast of characters.

This is the series opener and the world building is intriguing.  The story is set in a world where humans and paranormal beings are separated by the Veil and the Underveil is where the demons come out to play, battle and fight against an evil regime that has taken over the kingdom of Slayers.  Nikolai is a Slayer Prince, hell-bent on avenging his father’s murder.  He is charged to murder the offspring of the man he was told killed his father and he sets out to do so without compunction.  That is until he meets the offspring, medical research scientist, Elena Arcos.  Elena finds herself thrust into the violent world of the Underveil, where Nikolai is swiftly stunned with the knowledge that Elena is not only a potential creature  of doom- but is also is life mate and suddenly killing her no longer appeals to his warrior’s vengeance.  Their dangerous courtship is chock full of misunderstandings and false starts.  Nikolai’s hasty decision to bind them with a cord that intertwines with their souls, is the catalyst of their adventure.  Elena is a FORCE  to be reckoned with.  She is not at all as human as she thought and seeing her come into her own was nothing short of thrilling!  Even when she made the WORST DECISION EVER  and nearly got herself and Nikolai killed, I still thought she was the shit.  I believe I admired most her perseverance and refusal to be the little human pawn in a dangerous power struggle.  The recurring mantra was “make good choices Elena” and she made tough choices that ultimately changed the course of her life.  Strong, and very literally coming into her own, Elena was a phenomenal heroine and Jaysus H. Christ, Nikolai was a Slayer after my own heart. He was everything big, blunt, bad-ass brute with a naivety regarding caring for a human woman who made me swoon- and my lady parts danced a little jig.

There were some plot elements that I had trouble with- mainly surrounding the limitations that some of the paranormal characters suffered from.  For example,  the cord that linked Nikolai and Elena’s souls seemed to be clumsy.  I get why they needed to be bound physically for later plot developments, however, it was kind of distracting and I kept wondering- why if he had teleportation powers and a host of other cool otherworldly tricks, couldn’t they have a binding that wasn’t quite literally a tethering rope?  I kept wanting to sever the damn thing and just let their palms itch or something less cumbersome.  Meh, the good news is they become unbound in the most delicious way.

 “What did I say in the cabin?” he asked.  She took a deep breath and pushed down several more inches.  Moaning, she reveled in the fullness as he stretched her.  So large.  So right.  She paused as his blood and body filled her.  He reached between them and rubbed his thumb against her core.  

“I made a prediction, did I not?”

She couldn’t answer.  She could only survive, as she struggled to breathe and the pressure built from the fullness and the relentless circles he made with his thumb.  

“I said you would come before I was fully inside you.  You’re there. Let go,” he whispered, pulling her down, forcing himself further into her…Nikolai almost spilled when she convulsed around him…

Their adventure to save the realm and kingdom is a journey that made me LOL, scream aloud and reach for my trusty club to knock some sense into Nikolai (and Elena a time or two).  The supporting characters are all so damn impressive.  Each leaves you with a hint of their back story and in every case, I wanted to know more!  Brilliant skill, this author wields, as having the supporting characters being so meaty and fleshed out, it sets up the next books in the series. I find that the Time Folder, Stefan oozed rich, dangerous elegance and I LOVED that he took exactly ZERO of Nikolai’s shit!   I love a refined character that will put a brute on his ass with slightly less than a flick of his wrist and sip his scotch while likely contemplating the merits of purchasing an ostentatious Persian rug the aftermath.

Elena and Nikolai’s journey also led me to my latest and arguably greatest paranormal vampire crush.  Oh yes, he is so much more than my smexy boyfriend.  He transcends a description as limiting as fictional husband .  He is for me and I am for him, and the he that I speak of is Vlad. *Shivers*  Vlad is as old as the stars,  and is inexplicably a vampire prisoner who joins the battle later on in the novel against the usurper King hell bent on destroying Elena and terrorizing mankind.  If Nikolai made my lady parts perk up, Vlad makes my hello kitty ROAR.  He is treacherous, bloodletting perfection and I can only hope (and fan girl, and obsess and fixate and pray) that he has his own novel in the series- and soon.

Love Me to Death is a refreshing and well-timed paranormal romance that has humor and darkness and sexy sexy times in near perfect balance.  This series opener was not bogged down with being the first release and it felt every bit as fast paced and exciting as I would expect from an author hitting her stride within a series and that observation alone has Marissa Clarke rocketing to the top of my To-Be-Read list.

If you like a dark, sexy and thrilling paranormal tale, with amazing supporting characters and a story arc that is fun and complex,  then I absolutely suggest you dive into Love Me to Death and pitch your tents next to me while we camp out for #2 that has yet to be announced.

 Grade: A-

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