Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire (Love at First Stake, #16) by Kerrelyn Sparks
PNR
E book
December 31, 2014
Avon
Reviewed by Tori
Russell wakes from a coma to find he’s become a vampire. Now he has a thirst for revenge. Determined to hunt down the master vampire who turned him, he’s used to working alone . . . until he meets Jia. She is after the same vampire for murdering her parents and insists she can help Russell on this mission. Reluctantly, he agrees, and sets up some ground rules:
Rule #1: Their partnership is strictly business. If he holds her a little too close . . . if she looks at him with those exotic eyes . . . well, that has to stop.
Rule #2: He’s in charge. Jia isn’t used to taking orders and questions every move he makes. So he stops her the only way he knows how.
Rule #3: Don’t fall in love. But the kiss that was supposed to quiet her awakens something else in him . . . something forbidden. Because Jia is engaged. To someone else. (Goodreads)
Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire brings a long running storyline to a close as our hero, Russell Hankleburg, solidifies his revenge against Master Han, the evil vampire who changed him and then left him in a coma for 39 years, with the help of a were-tiger who has her own reasons for wanting Han dead.
Jia, our heroine, is a royal were-tiger princess whose parents and siblings were slaughtered by Master Han. She has vowed revenge but is stymied by her cousin, Rivja, the Grand Tiger of her village. She escapes her guards and while hunting Han on her own, inadvertently ruins Russell’s killing shot. Russell grabs her and takes her back to his hideout in order to discover who she is and why she interfered with his plans. Upon discovering her identity, he instantly takes her back to Tiger Town and from there, a somewhat controversial relationship begins between them. The romance is slow to start but builds in balance with the conflict.
Though well written (in terms of mechanics) and fast paced, I couldn’t help but feel rather underwhelmed with the story overall. I have followed this series on and off since the beginning. Interesting dynamic characters, silly tongue in cheek humor, and some steamy romance is what made this series fun but in this installment there was a faint mocking and moronic quality to the characters and the storyline. Dialogue flips from funny and mature to juvenile and imbecile in a heartbeat. Formulaic to the point of redundancy, it follows a noticeable groove worn track and stays one-dimensional. The emotional conduits seem to be missing. We are told more than shown. Russell constantly waxes on how attracted he is to Jia but I never felt the chemistry between them. Jia comes off strong and smart in regards to their mission but naive and somewhat stupid in the affairs of the heart. The romance and the conflict are streamlined and whittled down to the bare bones. No anticipation. No real heart stopping moments or genuine feelings that something bad will happen. It’s all very circumspect.
Almost every couple from the series makes an appearance, bringing some humor as they help wrap up the multiple story lines and close the series out. I did enjoy seeing many old faces and of course seeing where they have all ended up. I admit the angel squad was a bit strange and visiting Hell left me rolling my eyes. The one liners and character caricatures over reached at times and fell flat. The coup de grace concerning Master Han came out of left field and was almost annoyingly easy to figure out. I do wish more time had been spent on the little boy-dragon hostage. His story was rather good and there was a wonderful area to expand there that wasn’t taken.
Overall I think that Sparks was right to wrap it all up and end it here. The stories hves become repetitive and the last few installments, this one in particular, have lacked the “spark” that drew me to the series to begin with. While I’m sure die hard fans of the series will be thrilled with the couple and route Sparks chose for this bon voyage, this one just wasn’t for me.
RATING: C-
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